1890 King of Southeast Asia

"What? Station troops inland? No, no... I am just a small assistant commander. I can't make the decision on this matter. Pingzhi still has to talk to the regent..." Li Songqing clenched his fists.

There were only Li Songqing and Lin Pingzhi in the huge room.

Lin Pingzhi and Lin Anmin sent text messages all night. After learning about Nanhua's idea, they delayed their departure to the north for a day to test the waters and release Nanhua's idea of ​​stationing troops to see how Qing Empire would react.

As expected, Li Songqing, a professional soldier with a political mind, showed a great reaction to this idea.

"What should we do if this happens again?" Lin Pingzhi picked up a glass of wine/three-cent cup and drank it all.

Li Songqing stuttered and didn't know what to say.

"This time Qing Empire must pay the price. Either Qing Empire is responsible or the people involved in the incident are responsible." Lin Pingzhi looked at Li Songqing who was silent.

"Pingzhi, this matter... we have to think about it in the long run." Li Songqing was holding it in for a long time, and didn't know what to say.

"Let's not talk about official business today, drink, drink!" After holding it in for a long time, Li Songqing picked up the wine and drank it all.

It's so frustrating! This matter was not done by him, and they were not right and couldn't beat him. If they couldn't beat him, they would just admit it. But the one who did this was Zaixun, Zaifeng's younger brother, and it was not easy to deal with him.

Station troops? He didn't want to, and he believed that other people in the Qing Empire didn't want to either.

How many factories does Nanhua have in the Qing Empire? There are more than a dozen various machine bureaus that Nanhua has received according to the industrial plan, and there are dozens of factories built by itself, with a total value of hundreds of millions of taels of silver, right?

If this matter is not given to others, they will not give up, otherwise there will be a Zaixun today, and there will be another Xun tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, any cat or dog can come to him, how can others bear it?

As for the guarantee, what guarantee can be given? Zaixun unilaterally tore up the contract, which ruined his character!

But Li Songqing knew that this matter was not told to him, but to be relayed to the higher-ups.

The purpose should be to make them more sensible.

…………

In the early morning of July 21st, outside Lushunkou, the two armies that had once cooperated were facing each other.

Led by the Chang'an, the nine warships of the South China Empire Navy were sailing ten kilometers outside the port. The muzzles of the naval artillery forts in Lushunkou were raised high, aiming at the warships of the South China Navy.

A dreadnought, an ironclad ship, two large cruisers, and several small and medium-sized cruisers of the Beiyang were starting fires, and the destroyers were slowly starting up, and the alarm sounded throughout the port.

"Zhengqing!" The new admiral Lin Kaishi boarded the Zhenhai battleship and hurriedly walked towards Deng Zhengqing.

"Sir." Deng Zhengqing hurriedly greeted him.

"Sir, what's the situation outside?" Deng Zhengqing got straight to the point.

The alarm had been going off for an hour, and he had received a lot of information, but none of it could be repeated, except for the identity of the enemy - Nanhua.

"Nine Nanhua warships are swimming off the coast of Lushun, less than six nautical miles from the port. According to the hull number, the leader is the Chang'an battleship." Lin Kaishi looked at the direction of the sea.

(One nautical mile is equal to 1.8 kilometers, and the navy prefers to use units such as nautical miles and yards.)

"Alas~ What are the ideas above?" Deng Zhengqing's face was a little complicated, with discomfort, anger, helplessness, shame, etc., but soon became firm.

"What else can it be? No attack." Lin Kaishi sent away his personal soldiers and entourage and stood in front of the 305mm turret.

"The Nanhua Navy has upgraded the Chang'an, replacing the 305mm triple-mounted cannon with a 356mm twin-mounted cannon. The firepower has doubled instead of decreasing. If we go out to sea, we won't be enough to fight them together." Lin Kaishi complained.

Their 305mm shells weigh only 330kg, while Nanhua's 356mm armor-piercing shells weigh 672kg, and the firepower of a single gun is equal to that of one of their turrets.

Nanhua's Chang'an-class battleships has four turrets and eight guns, while their Zhenhai has only two turrets and four guns.

In total, the firepower of one Nanhua battleship is equal to that of four of their battleships, and it is even more powerful.

The Qing Empire also ordered two battleships from Nanhua, equipped with 356mm guns, but they are still shells and still on the slipway. At this time, the Qing Empire Navy has only one dreadnought to support the scene.

This dreadnought was purchased from Nanhua at a friendly price with a loan from Nanhua.

"In the port, we can still defend with the help of the turrets, but there is basically no way to win in a head-on battle." Deng Zhengqing hesitated.

"Bullshit!" Lin Kaishi looked around and confirmed that there was no one around - especially no special Mangui officers.

"Zai Xun is shameless, acting recklessly, and wants us to take our lives to stop him after he caused trouble? Don't even think about it! Lord Yang ordered us not to go out without orders, and those who violated the order would be executed!" Lin Kaishi was a little excited, but he held back his emotions.

After Zaifeng took office, in order to tightly grasp the military power, he sent many noble officers to various places to monitor the officers and soldiers, or simply seize power.

The Beiyang Navy was not spared. A large number of officers who had no naval experience, skills, or even common sense boarded the ship. Because they did not understand the navy, they could not seize power and could only monitor the naval officers and soldiers.

At the beginning, it was okay. Although the noble officers had a high opinion of themselves and acted like they were powerful, they did not do anything wrong.

After a few days, the nature of these Eight Banners children was exposed. They often beat and scolded the sailors, withheld supplies, demanded benefits, and formed small groups to oppress the good.

They also kept an eye on the words and deeds of the Beiyang officers and soldiers. If they complained a little, they would be arrested and locked up. They would not be released unless they were paid. It was not good for anyone's face.

In order to control the navy, Zaifeng let these practices go. Besides, isn't this the norm for the children of the Eight Banners? The Eight Banners are nobles, the superiors. What's wrong with doing this?

Even the captains of each ship were casually damaged. This is unimaginable in the navy that emphasizes the absolute authority of the captain. In the long run, the soldiers were disunited, the fleet was demoralized, and the combat effectiveness declined to the level before the first Qing-Japanese War.

A group of naval officers, including Deng Zhengqing, saw it and were anxious in their hearts, but they had no way to deal with this group of nobles. They could only quietly train some officers to prevent the navy from being cut off.

But they had a lot of resentment towards the nobles of the Qing Empire and Zaifeng.

"Then why are you here?" Deng Zhengqing confirmed that no one heard their conversation. Maybe it was because the war was ahead, and the nobles who were afraid of death ran away?

"The commander of the opposing fleet is Lord Xu Sunming. We met once when we went to Nanhua to pick up the ship.

I think I should let you, Zhengqing, go and take a look and ask about their purpose. It would be best if we can avoid fighting." Lin Kaishi took Deng Zhengqing to the bow.

It is relatively open here. There is no one within 20 meters around. It is safe!

"The governor means that we should talk to Nanhua and show our Beiyang's attitude. Try not to fall out. It is best to repair the relationship." Lin Kaishi leaned over and whispered in Deng Zhengqing's ear like a thief.

"This!... Isn't this passive avoidance of war?" Deng Zhengqing was startled and almost cried out, and then answered softly.

These are all nice words. The upper level wants to fight, and the lower level negotiates peace. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is treason in nature. This makes it difficult for Lord Deng, who has been deeply educated in the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, to accept.

"Why should we not hold Zaixun responsible for his actions, but let our Beiyang brothers fight to the death? Well! Even if I go to Beiyang and put our entire navy to fight, do you know what the result will be?" Lin Kaishi waved his sleeves, looking unsatisfied.

"As a soldier, we should die on the battlefield..." Deng Zhengqing couldn't accept it.

"Die on the battlefield? That's fighting for the country, not for Zaixun. Is Zaixun the country?"

"Zhengqing, you are too upright. Even if Mr. Li assigned the Zhenhai to you, you only got the title of general. You are the commander of the right wing in the central army."

"I tell you what will happen if we fight."

"We are facing the Nanhua Squadron and cannot leave Lushunkou, but Nanhua still has five battleships, which are bigger and stronger! Nanhua troop transports and warships can land anywhere without hindrance."

"At this time, the court wants to negotiate, but there is no reason unless the loss is large enough!"

"Zaifeng will order me through the Navy Office, and we have to rush out and fight the enemy to the death , and finally the whole army was annihilated. "

"At that time, Zaifeng will use the excuse of the navy's destruction to seek foreign help, negotiate with Nanhua, sell some interests, and let Nanhua stop. "

"The navy suffered heavy losses or even annihilation, which just suits Zaifeng's wishes. He can use the excuse of rebuilding the navy and controlling the navy. "

"After the war, there will be compensation and reconstruction of the navy. It will be good if the officers and soldiers can get 30% of the pension. We old people will also be kicked out, and those Manchu nobles will fill the entire fleet. "

"Is this the consequence you want to see?"

Lin Kaishi said angrily. Zaifeng hesitated again and again, and his ideas changed three times a day. Isn't it just thinking about shouting and embarrassing him, and still wanting Beiyang to take the blame?

When the losses are greater, the contradiction will be transferred from Zaixun to Nanhua. His authority will not decrease, but will increase because of the loss of Beiyang's strength.

Such an obvious thing can be seen clearly by these individuals, so Beiyang is somewhat passive and lazy, and constantly shows goodwill to Nanhua.

"Lord Xu? Apart from receiving the ship, I haven't seen him for many years." Deng Zhengqing thought for a long time, and finally compromised when looking at the family area of ​​officers and soldiers on the shore.

Lin Kaishi breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone could go to see Xu Sunming, and Deng Zhengqing was not the best choice, but Deng had to accept this reality, which was the purpose of his coming.

After all, to say that he would meet him was actually to show weakness and collaborate with the enemy.

If Deng could not be convinced, then he could only say sorry to him. For the fleet and Beiyang, he could only calm down for a while.

However, it was unknown how much impact the replacement of the commander of the battleship Zhenhai would have. If it was possible not to change it, it would be best not to change it - and Mangui could not find fault with it.

At noon on July 21, a motorboat docked at the Luling and returned quickly. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Deng Zhengqing boarded the motorboat and headed straight for the Changan...

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