Although Xima Jie Geli had long known that the Humen Fort was not what it used to be, he never dreamed that the hit rate of the Qing army artillery in Humen was so terrifying! The fastest fifth-tier ship didn't even have a chance to escape!

Looking at the five battleships that were sinking, his face was extremely pale, even if the main fleet of the Royal Navy came to capture Humen, I am afraid that there would be heavy casualties!

At this time, the situation expanded, but it was the price of losing five warships, his face was painful, and he secretly regretted his recklessness and recklessness, and he did not dare to send warships to salvage and rescue the officers and soldiers who had fallen into the water, so he could only wait in place, and at the same time ordered to pay close attention to the sea situation at the lookout post. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Jingyuan Fort, the British fleet did not dare to come to the rescue, and a group of officers and soldiers let out a cheer when they boarded, but Vice Admiral Cheng Wenshao felt bored, but what is there to be happy about sinking five small warships, I don't know how much ammunition has been wasted just for live ammunition training over the years, and it is simply a loss!

He approached Mai Tingzhang and said, "Junmen, do you want to send a fleet to intercept them?" ”

"No, you don't." Mai Tingzhang waved his hand, he planned to accept it when he saw it, he knew his own affairs, the fleet of the Guangdong Navy Division fought the Navy Division of Annan and suppressed the pirates, it was no problem, the naval battle with the British fleet, he had no bottom in his heart, in case of defeat, not only the Guangdong Navy Division's face was not good-looking, but also damaged the reputation of the imperial court, he didn't want to end up with a greedy and reckless handle.

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Changle Book House.

Cao Gensheng walked into the room quickly with a happy face, and said loudly: "The big shopkeeper, Humen is calling, and it is a big victory." ”

"Reading ——。" Yi Zhifu said in a flat tone, he was very clear about the situation of the Humen Fort, and he was also well aware of the situation of the British fleet in Hong Kong, so he was naturally not surprised at all.

"The commander of the British fleet in the East Indies and China, West Ma Geach, led more than 20 warships to attack the Humen Fort, first opened fire on the provocation, and then sent five warships to the vicinity to shell, and the Humen batteries fought back, sinking five British ships, killing and wounding more than 300 British soldiers, and our army suffered more than 20 casualties."

"Not bad." Easy to know the content of the slight jaw.

sank five British warships and only suffered more than 20 casualties, this result is not bad! Wei Yuan and Zhao Wenlie were both a little incredulous, both of them knew that the Eight Banners Green Battalion had always had a tradition of lying about their exploits, and when they saw it, they were content to react indifferently, Wei Yuan said tentatively: "The combat power of the Humen Green Battalion is so strong? ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "Mr. doesn't know about the situation of the Humen Fort, today's Humen is not what it used to be, with 400 large and small artillery, and the officers and men of the Green Battalion stationed in Humen are no different from the Nanyang Navy, more than 20 warships..... Plugging between the teeth is not enough. ”

Can't plug your teeth enough? Wei Yuan and Zhao Wenlie couldn't help but look at each other, when did the Humen Fort become so strong?

Yi Zhishu looked at Cao Gensheng and ordered: "Send a report to the military aircraft department, the British fleet brazenly shelled Humen, and five more battleships were sunk, with hundreds of casualties, there is no room for mediation, the two countries will go to war, it is inevitable, I implore the imperial court to declare war on Britain in three days, in order to seize the initiative!" ”

After a pause, he continued: "The telegram ordered Groba to immediately cut off all cable and telegraph lines in Temasek, Malacca, and Penang, and cut off the telegraph links between the three places. ”

"The telegram ordered Groba to be born, and the Nanyang Fleet was immediately dispatched to capture Temasek, Malacca, and Penang, blockade the Strait of Malacca, and not allow a single ship to escape from the Strait of Malacca."

Waiting for Cao Gensheng to leave, Yi Zhizhi turned to Wei Yuan, "Mr. Lao wrote an article for the Shanghai Daily newspaper to smuggle crows from the British. He did not abide by the laws of the Qing Dynasty, did not abide by diplomatic etiquette, and frequently provoked the bottom line of the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty, and vigorously criticized the British Minister in China and the Hong Kong Garrison. ”

As he spoke, he said to Zhao Wenlie: "Huifu first drafted a proclamation that the two countries would not harm civilians if they were at war, and that Yuan Qi would ......protect all enemy civilians, merchants, diplomats, missionaries, and all merchants, factories, schools, consulates, churches, etc., in the Great Qing Dynasty treaty ports. ”

Hearing this, Wei Yuan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said: "It's best to publish this notice in the newspaper to publicize it." ”

"Hmm." Yi Zhizhi nodded, "When the time comes, let the Chinese newspapers in Shanghai and Guangzhou and foreign language newspapers be published." After a pause, he continued: "However, all foreign ships must be detained. ”

Jingshi, Old Summer Palace, Fangbi Cong.

Xianfeng spread out several telegrams sent from Humen and Guangzhou on the table and compared them, the contents were surprisingly consistent, and it was obvious that the victory at Humen was not a false report of war achievements, but a real thing, sinking five British ships in a short period of time, and his own casualties were negligible.

This made him both surprised and gratified, mixed with a bit of pride, known as the overlord of the sea, Yingyi is just like this, he was thinking about how to reward Mai Tingzhang, a eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, Su Shun is handing over a sign to ask to see you." ”

"Let him in." Xianfeng estimated in his heart that there must be an electric music in Shanghai.

Sure enough, after Su Shun came in to greet him, he said: "Your Majesty, Shanghai is easy to be content with electric music." As he spoke, he handed over a telegram.

Declaring war on Britain? Xianfeng was slightly flustered after reading it, the imperial court declared war on Britain, will the British army directly point the finger at the imperial court?

Seeing that Xianfeng was silent, Su Shun kowtowed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, instead of waiting for Britain to declare war on our Qing Dynasty, it is better to declare war on Britain first. ”

Listening to him, he bit the word 'Great Qing' very seriously, Xianfeng also recalled, Guangdong Navy is an authentic green camp, and it is impossible for the imperial court to stay out of the matter, and Yuan Qi has never claimed to secede, Nanyang Navy, Yuan Qi New Army, Northwest New Army, etc., at least nominally, are the economic divisions of the imperial court.

For him, now stretching out his head is a knife, and shrinking his head is also a knife, and this battle is mainly dependent on easy contentment, so why make the other party unhappy? He immediately said briskly: "Yingyi is too deceitful, and he intends to declare war on Yingyi!" ”

Hong Kong, Governor's Office.

Bao Ling, the minister to China and the governor of Hong Kong, should have been the last to know about the Battle of Humen, and it was only after the news of the Battle of Humen spread in Guangzhou that he received a telegram from the consulate in Guangzhou from Pa Xiali that five warships had been sunk, a result that made him a little incredulous.

After the West Malaysia Cosley led the fleet back to Hong Kong and confirmed that the news was correct, he couldn't help but be furious, this situation has now expanded enough, but who will be responsible for the loss of these five warships and the casualties of more than 300 officers and men?

After sulking for a while, Bao Ling calmed down, and then ordered a telegram to be sent to London, and soon the attendant came in to report, "Your Excellency, for unknown reasons, the cable telegram with Temasek cannot be reached. ”

Bao Ling reacted in an instant, it must be Yuan Qi's hands and feet, this is to block the news, he immediately wrote a letter to report the situation in detail, and sent a clipper ship to Temasek to deliver the letter.

However, what he didn't expect was that the Qing Emperor actually issued an edict to declare war on Britain to the world! Seeing the telegram, Bao Ling suddenly felt extremely uneasy in his heart, the Qing Kingdom actually declared war first! First cut off the cable telegraph between Britain and the Qing Dynasty, and then declared war? What does this mean?

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and hurriedly ordered him: "Come here, invite General Mack to come immediately." ”

Before the words fell, Xima Gu Li had already hurriedly walked in, "Your Excellency, the Nanyang Navy fleet has surrounded Victoria Bay. ”

Hearing this, Bao Ling's face suddenly turned pale, and Qing Guo really made a move on Hong Kong.

On the flagship 'Zhenjiang', Chen Hongming put down his binoculars, raised his wrist and glanced at his watch, and said expressionlessly: "Issue an ultimatum and order to surrender within 24 hours, otherwise, an attack will be launched." ”

Cut off from Temasek and with less than 3,000 defenders, and faced with a fleet of more than 100 warships and 20,000 troops in the South Seas Navy, both Bao Ling and West Malaysia made a wise choice, and the next morning, with three hours to go before the 24-hour ultimatum, the white flags were raised at both Victoria City and Central Military Harbour.

Three days later, the Javanese detachment of the Nanyang Fleet led by Tong Zao Seng easily captured Temasek under the cooperation of the Nanyang Nanhua Association and the Tiandihui, and then moved westward, crossed Malacca and went straight to Penang.

Within 10 days, all three British ports in the Strait of Malacca had been captured, and not a single ship had escaped.

After receiving the telegram, Yi Zhizu breathed a sigh of relief, the British did not have many troops stationed in the three ports of the Strait of Malacca, and under his instruction, the Nanhua Society and the Tiandi Society, which were active in the South Seas, were all focused on infiltrating the three ports, and it was not difficult to send troops to attack, but the difficulty was to ensure that the news would not leak out.

Zhao Wenlie asked with a little hesitation: "The big treasurer cut off the cable telegram of the British army in the three ports of the Strait of Malacca, and sent troops to occupy it, and then completely blockade the Strait of Malacca, in order to block the news and buy time?" ”

"Britain is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and to wage war with foreign countries, it needs to be voted on by the House of Commons to pass the bill to send troops." Yi Zhisuff patiently explained: "Cutting off the cable telegraph and blocking the Strait of Malacca is equivalent to cutting off all information between the Qing Dynasty and the outside world, which can at least delay the time for Britain to send troops to the greatest extent. ”

Will this be self-defeating? Zhao Wenlie had some doubts in his heart, "Kolkata is not far from the Strait of Malacca....... The British sensed the anomaly and would inevitably send someone to Malacca to investigate the situation. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "What we are waiting for is that the British will send a nearby fleet to Malacca to investigate the situation, our navy is far inferior to the British, and we must eliminate the British forces in the nearby waters as much as possible, and at the same time, pull out the three ports of the British in the Strait of Malacca, and it will be more difficult for the British fleet to replenish." ”

Zhao Wenlie said tentatively: "The main fleet of the Nanyang Navy has gone to the South Seas?" ”

Yi Zhifu nodded slightly, "To be exact, it's going to Penang." ”

London.

Prime Minister Palmerston Palmerston, who was ridiculed by his opponents as a deaf, blind and old liar with dentures, was on the verge of madness, and after learning that the cable telegraph from the three ports of the Straits of Malacca -- Penang, Malacca, and Singapore -- could not be reached, he was keenly aware of the great changes that must have taken place in the Far East, but few members of the upper and lower houses supported his speculation.

Few parliamentarians believe that something drastic will happen in the Far East, and they prefer to believe that it was a submarine cable problem that caused the cable telegraph to be interrupted in Singapore's three ports.

Palmerston, who could not get support, could only keep his feet on the ground and ordered Kolkata and Colombo to quickly send ships to the Strait of Malacca to investigate the situation.

But whether it is Kolkata or Colombo, all the merchant ships and warships sent into the sea are mud cattle, and there is no news!

Shanghai, Zhenhai Mansion, Lotus Garden.

Yi Zhizhi was leisurely and half-lying on the recliner in the pavilion, listening to the cicadas around him, drowsy, listening to the slight footsteps, he opened his eyes, saw that it was Lin Meilian, and said: "It's noon, there are still people coming?" ”

"It's Bojia." Lin Meilian said softly, and refilled half a cup of tea in his teacup as she spoke.

"Bring him here." Yi Zhixin said casually, "Send two more bowls of chilled bayberry soup." ”

Bo drove over without hurry, and said in Chinese when they met: "Mr. Yi's yard is really comfortable." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "You have something to say, what's the matter, you've been uncomfortable lately?" ”

"It's uncomfortable." Bo said: "There are businessmen who come to ask all day long, when can the ban be lifted, and your war with Britain is not our business in the United States." ”

"Now London does not know that our country has declared war on Great Britain." Yi Zhizu said bluntly: "Can you guarantee that they won't sell this news for a good price?" ”

"There's no point in blocking the news like that." "You need to be locked down for at least half a year, otherwise there is no point at all, and the British will soon find out that something is wrong in the Far East." ”

Yi Zhi replied lazily, and when Lin Meilian sent bayberry soup over, she smiled and said, "Chilled bayberry soup, try how it tastes." ”

Bo Jia didn't have any intention to drink bayberry soup, took two sips, then put down the bowl, and said, "It tastes very good." ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said: "When the war breaks out, the price of raw silk and tea in Europe will skyrocket, tell them, buy more, don't rush to get rid of it when you go back, you can earn enough to make more than the usual two trips, you just need a little more patience." ”

After a slight sigh, Bo Jiacai said: "When the war breaks out, the British will inevitably blockade the coast, and the Japanese country is also rich in tea and raw silk, can we directly trade with the Japanese country?" ”

"Nope." Yi Zhicontent said without thinking: "The Japanese country is closed to the country, and is unwilling to open the country and open the port. ”

Bo Jia hesitated for a moment before he said: "We don't have to enter the port of the Japanese country, there are many islands off the coast of the Japanese country, how about choosing one island for trade?" ”

Since you want the United States to remain neutral, it naturally wants to give some benefits, and besides, maintaining commerce and trade between the two countries is also beneficial to Yuan Qi, Yi Zhishu sighed for a while, and then nodded and said: "Yes, I will arrange this matter as soon as possible." ”