Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 858: The cruiser Chaoyong returns to the Qing Dynasty, and changes occur in the Eastern Mediterranean

On January 1881, 1, Qing Dynasty Navy Admiral Ding Ruchang went to Port Adelaide, South Australia Province, on the Australian mainland of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to receive the warships "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei".

History, and repeatedly told the Jin-Deng-Qian doctrine ship hull to take into account both, hoping to build two "first-class" warships.The two also exchanged letters many times on issues related to military construction design. For example, because the originally planned carrier-based torpedo boats were too large and heavy, which would affect the layout and speed of the warships, they negotiated with the Dutch Far East Group Shipyard, and Li - Hong Zhang participated in the whole process and changed it into two lightweight motorboats that can launch rod mines.

Hurd, the director of the Dutch Far East Group Shipyard, proposed to install a fixed front-loading gun, and at the suggestion of King Dengan, it was changed to an advanced rotating breech-loading gun, etc.

I don’t know if it was an exchange. On the evening of the same day, the "Haichen" ship loaded with Qing sailors arrived in Melbourne, the Netherlands. For the first time, I saw the young sailors of the ancient Qing Dynasty and the ship flying the dragon flag. The whole country of the Netherlands was moved. His Majesty's position was sensational.

At a historic moment, the mayor of Adelaide, South Australia, sent a telegram to pay tribute to Ding Ru-chang, the Qing Dynasty. The Adelaide City Council also passed a ceremony to present Ding Ru-chang. Congratulations.

In the future, Huang Jianxun and Lin Luzhong will respectively take over the leadership of the second ship (called captain in Dutch terms)

In the future history, these two current capital ships will retreat after the victory of the future Japan-Qing naval battle, and once almost became training ships for the Qing navy.

The news that the Qing Dynasty received advanced warships from the Netherlands immediately dispersed the dullness in the Far East sky. This news also attracted a lot of attention in the Western world.

"One move affected the whole world. Britain, France, the Netherlands and Spain were competing for hegemony in Southeast Asia in the Far East. The Russian Empire seemed to be eyeing the Qing Dynasty in the east and north in the Far East. The United Kingdom seemed to be fully supporting Japan, and it was also obsessed with the Koryo Peninsula. .

Therefore, any big movement in this area will attract attention.

The Qing Dynasty introduced advanced warships from Western countries, which means that other countries will have to be more cautious when facing the Qing Dynasty with advanced surface warships, especially Japan. "

As the chief minister of the Prime Minister's Yamen, Li Hongzhang finally felt much more comfortable in front of the empress dowagers such as Empress Dowager Ci'an and Empress Dowager Ci Xi because of the formal handover of two warships in the Netherlands in recent days.

Some time ago, the two empress dowagers of the East and West Palaces questioned him a lot because of the arrival of the Netherlands and Japan.

"Ru-chan, has Japan taken any action recently?" Li Hongzhang asked worriedly.

I have to say that Japan has been too quiet recently, which made Li Hongzhang suspicious. Even Korea reported that Japan has been very low-key since the third quarter of 1880.

The King of Korea even asked whether it was the consequence of the warning given by the Japanese Foreign Minister after visiting the Netherlands, and whether the Qing Dynasty played a role in it.

In this regard, he was able to appease Goryeo, but Li Hongzhang was puzzled by this in his heart, because he knew that the Qing Dynasty actually just wanted the Netherlands to issue a diplomatic opposition to the Netherlands, a quasi-ally, and Japan, the old enemy, which was close to damage. It was just the interests of the Qing Dynasty, but I never thought that the Netherlands would really take action against Japan for the interests of the Qing Dynasty.

But unfortunately, Japan's current actions are in line with the needs of the Qing Dynasty. Could it be that the Netherlands is really testing Japan's pressure?
Is the Netherlands really willing to hear what China has to say?

Li Hongzhang was the first to not believe it. It was precisely because of his disbelief that he asked Ding Ruchang, who was in charge of the Beiyang Fleet.

Ding Ruchang is now highly regarded by Li Hongzhang and is the admiral of the Beiyang Navy.He was Li Hongzhang's ally in the military. Ding Ruchang said: "With the successive years before 1879, our Qing country ordered "Zhendong," "Zhenxi," and "Zhendong" from the British Empire. Four warships, "Zhenbei" and "Zhennan", came to the Qing Dynasty. The number of Beiyang warships was increasing day by day. As the master approved the order of the subordinates to stay in Beiyang for coastal defense, the subordinates sent gunboats to supervise the operation.

"However, because the UK needed to support Japan, the UK began to refuse us to purchase advanced British warships. After that, we could only buy from the Netherlands. In the end, we became a quasi-ally with a better relationship with the Netherlands than the UK."

Ding Ru-chang said: “In the past few years, Japan has been eyeing the Korean Peninsula strongly, but most of it was because of the support of Britain and France.

Now the UK cannot protect itself, perhaps because the Netherlands and several Western countries recently joined forces with several Western countries to encircle the UK’s homeland and the British Isles in a joint exercise, which made Japan timid.”

Speaking of this, Ding Ruchang smiled and said: "Perhaps Japan is afraid that what is happening in Britain will happen to itself."

Li Hongzhang was moved when he heard this.

"Not to mention, if the Netherlands and other countries also conduct island-circling exercises against Japan, Japan will really scare many people to death. After all, the British navy is so powerful that other countries dare not take action, but if Japan faces the above situation, , then it is very likely that the homeland will be attacked, so Japan is right not to take the lead at this time and choose to keep a low profile."

Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang finally agreed with this statement.

"It seems that we need to increase our relationship with the Netherlands. So, we need to continue to purchase weapons from the Netherlands."

On January 1881, the sixth year of Guangxu's reign (1), Li Hongzhang, the minister of the Qing Dynasty's general office, sent Ding Ruchang to lead Lin Taizeng, Deng Shichang and others to go there. Melbourne, the capital of the Netherlands, is negotiating to order the sister cruisers "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei".

During his visit to the Netherlands, Ding Ruchang met with King William IV of the Netherlands, visited Dutch Navy Commander Jan De and Chief of Naval Staff Joseph Karls and other senior naval officers, and met with some famous Dutch warship designers at the time. He stayed in the Netherlands. With a good image in mind, Ding Ru-chang took the opportunity to go to the Dutch and Australian mainland, and on his way back, he also had the opportunity to visit the Dutch East India Company's flag naval shipyard, and visited the company that helped the Qing Dynasty build " "Dingyuan" ship.
At the same time, it seems that it was threatened by the British British Islands siege exercise. The British Undersecretary of Defense Vichos, who is in charge of the British Mediterranean Fleet, said in London that the United Kingdom hopes to hold naval exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean to protect key maritime foundations. facility.

The senior British naval official said in London,

The United Kingdom released its latest maritime security strategy on January 1881, 1, outlining plans to hold annual British naval exercises and coordinate naval commands around the world to safeguard British maritime interests and waterway security.

"The experience of the British Isles being encircled by the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark has made our British Empire feel an unprecedented crisis, which has intensified concerns about the threat to Britain's maritime security," Vichus said. This plan has been in place since The exercise had already begun before the mainland was encircled, but this plan will be strengthened to deal with such incidents.

In response to the British Ministry of Defense's practices, the Netherlands' response plan is to strengthen cooperation between the Netherlands and its allies, especially in response to British practices in the Mediterranean. The Dutch naval base in Albania and ports in Spain and Greece will jointly expand joint coastal patrols. , and improve intelligence sharing among countries to detect threats early, such as through the three countries’ use of Mediterranean data and civilian ships to detect unidentified vessels.

Obviously, the Netherlands and Spain will use Greece's important position in the Eastern Mediterranean to increase their influence there to compete with the British influence. At the same time, the Netherlands and Spain have publicly called on the British to give the management of Crete to the Kingdom of Greece.

This immediately gained the favor of the Greek people, but on the contrary, created ill will towards the British.

(End of this chapter)