I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 255 Beiyang Navy

The Qing Empire used the founding ceremony of the Beiyang Navy as a stage to show off its muscles.

The Siberian Fleet also received an invitation from the Qing Empire to participate in the founding ceremony of the Beiyang Navy held on Liugong Island on December 12.

Alexeyev didn't want to go.

Among the broken ships of the Siberian Fleet, the largest one has a displacement of only 500 tons and has been in service for more than 20 years. It is really impossible to get rid of them.

The most advanced "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" of the Qing Empire were battleships with a displacement of more than 7000 tons. They can be regarded as cutting-edge battleships in Europe.

So Alexeyev fell ill.

"George, do you want to go on a business trip to the Qing Empire?"

Milyutin was quite interested in the Qing Empire.

"What does this have to do with us?"

George loves to join in the fun at heart.

"Go and have a look. Haven't you been talking about going south all day?"

Milyutin is not afraid of embarrassment.

The establishment of the Beiyang Navy by the Qing Empire was a rare event in the Far East. East Asian countries and the three major naval powers of the day, Britain, France and Russia, were all invited by the Qing Empire.

The Qing Empire is preparing to hold a lineup of the Beiyang Navy fleet after the ceremony, and navies from various countries will also participate.

Alexeyev fell ill because of this.

George was not afraid of embarrassment and just went.

There was no navy in the Amur Military District, so George and Milyutin still took the "Dolgorukov" to the Qing Empire.

In 1875, the Qing Empire decided to establish a navy, and Beiyang Minister Li Shaoquan was ordered to prepare for the establishment of the Beiyang Navy.

Starting in 1875, Li Shaoquan successively ordered warships from Britain and Germany. By 1888, he had 25 warships, more than 50 auxiliary warships, more than 30 transport ships, and a total of more than 4000 officers and soldiers.

Strictly speaking, the Beiyang Navy was not a fleet of the Qing Empire, but a private fleet belonging to Beiyang Minister Li Shaoquan.

The "Beiyang Navy Regulations" stipulates that the Beiyang Navy has an admiral to command the entire army and be responsible for specific training and daily affairs. However, it is only under the control of the Beiyang ministers; other senior officials may not be dispatched or commanded without express permission from the court.

Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the Beiyang Navy, was a cavalry officer who knew nothing about the navy.

The Beiyang Navy uses British passwords internally. Ding Ruchang did not even know English and was completely unable to command fleet operations. This also paved the way for the future destruction of the Beiyang Navy.

Langweili, the deputy admiral of the Beiyang Navy, is a British man. He also serves as the chief instructor of the Beiyang Navy and is responsible for the daily management of the Beiyang Navy, as well as organization, drills, education and training.

George and Milyugin arrived at Liugong Island on December 12 and were warmly welcomed by Ding Ruchang and Lang Weili.

George and Milyukyo arrived relatively late. Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, and First Director of the Navy Ministry and President of the Naval University Yuhiro Ito had already arrived at Liugong Island on the 10th.

"Is General Alexeyev in good health?"

Langweili regretted that Alexeyev could not be present. At least 30% of the ship review was prepared for Alexeyev.

"I just feel cold occasionally, and I will recover after a while."

Milyutin was very curious about Langweili. You are a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Navy. Instead of serving in the Royal Navy, you went to the Qing Empire to serve as the chief instructor of the Beiyang Navy. What kind of spirit is this?

It's nothing, it's just because the Beiyang Navy gave them more.

Lang Weili's monthly salary in the Beiyang Navy was 600 taels of silver.

George had the highest title among all the foreign officers who came to attend the ceremony.

Ding Ruchang held a welcome dinner for George in accordance with Western customs.

In addition to military officers from various countries, the dinner was attended by foreign officers from the Beiyang Navy.

It was also at this time that George learned that there were actually more than 40 foreign officers serving in the Beiyang Navy.

Consider that millions of people immigrate to the United States every year.

George finally understood the European attitude towards the country and the nation.

Country and nation——

This problem is too heavy for Europeans.

For example, in the German Empire, which was only unified in 1871, many people had no concept of a country at all.

No wonder the population moves so frequently.

George was not very interested in the banquet, and basically could not get any useful information here, so George only appeared at the banquet for a while and left early.

It doesn't matter whether he is polite or not, George is the Yuryevsky Super Duke of the Russian Empire and is entitled to be willful.

It should be said that the Beiyang Navy performed quite well under the management of British teachers.

The next day George and Milyutin watched the formation of Beiyang Navy sailors, rifle and artillery firing, and equestrian performances.

George didn't know why the navy also had cavalry.

Mutsu Munemitsu and Ito Yuhiro were very supportive, and they applauded enthusiastically every time.

George's applause was a bit perfunctory.

Performing cavalry in front of George is a bit like trying to do what you want.

The Cossacks under George are the best cavalry in the world.

"The weapons of the Qing Empire are quite advanced——"

Milyugin's expression was not without worry.

The rifles equipped by the Beiyang Navy are not only modern rifles, but also magazine-type rifles.

George even saw the legendary lightning gun.

The electrostatic gun was the Maxim introduced by the Qing Empire. Because the use of black powder bullets caused frequent malfunctions, the Qing Empire did not mass-produce them.

"Not only rifles, the Qing Empire's artillery is almost also the most advanced in the world."

George also got a lot of information.

"Duke, what do you think of the Beiyang Navy?"

Langweili asked George to evaluate the Beiyang Navy.

"Very good, impressive."

George's response was polite, but unfortunately he didn't mean it. The problem of the Qing Empire was not about face.

During the ship review at the end of the ceremony, the signal sent by the Beiyang Navy flagship "Dingyuan" did not receive a timely response from other warships of the Beiyang Navy. The ship review finally began after the "Dingyuan" sent a signal for the third time.

George thought this was some kind of naval ceremony.

Seeing that Milyugin also looked surprised, George realized that maybe this was not a ceremony, but a problem with the internal communication of the Beiyang Navy.

The Beiyang Navy has so many problems that I don’t even know where to start.

Let's put it this way, as an admiral, Ding Ruchang, his personal soldiers have the title of admiral and the yellow mantle.

By analogy to the Russian Empire, it is equivalent to George's bodyguard, with each person serving as a general.

There were only a dozen admiral positions in the Qing Empire.

There are nearly ten thousand people with the status of admiral.

This resulted in a rather chaotic command system in the Qing Empire.

In peacetime, these problems will not be too obvious.

If a war breaks out, with so many admirals, who should they listen to?

On the actual battlefield, the commander-in-chief gave orders to the admiral. It was up to two people to decide whether they were easy to implement or not.

There was another problem with the subsequent artillery fire.

The warships of the Qing Empire passed one by one from the viewing platform, and salutes were fired during the process.

The "Zhenyuan" ship did not fire a salute when it passed the viewing platform.

Ding Ruchang's face was ashen.

Lang Weili's expression wasn't pretty either.

George didn't know what was going on.

According to the scheduled procedure, there was originally an artillery shooting performance.

This session was also canceled for unknown reasons.

"We have advanced warships, but we can't fully display their true strength. I think it was a mistake to let you come -"

Milyutin was worried that George's determination to go south would become stronger.

If the Beiyang Navy performs exceptionally well, then George may be more cautious.

After watching the performance of the Beiyang Navy, even Milyu Kyung felt that it would be unreasonable to go south.

"Don't worry, at least I won't do anything until the Trans-Siberian Railway is completed."

George gave Milyutin reassurance.

This was also said in St. Petersburg.

Although the relationship between Milyutin and George is very close.

But George believed that Milyutin would report George's every move to St. Petersburg in detail.

Compared with personal relationships, Milyutin's loyalty to the empire was unshakable.

George does nothing though.

I can't stand someone taking the initiative to stir up trouble.

When George was still on Liugong Island, Concubine Min sent a telegram to Yuriev Palace, hoping that Ye Luoxin could strengthen the protection of the Koryo Palace.

Among the troops currently protecting the Goryeo Palace, there is a battalion trained by the Amur Military District.

There is another battalion trained by Datou.

All the officers of this battalion trained in the Amur Military District are Russian.

All the officers of the troops trained by Datou were Qing people.

The embarrassing thing is that these troops did not obey the orders of Gaozong and Concubine Min, but only obeyed the orders of Ye Luoxin and Datou.

The Gaishin coup two years ago severely damaged Goryeo's vitality, prompting Emperor Gaozong and Concubine Min to seek protection from the Russian Empire.

After winter this year, Japanese activities in Goryeo became increasingly frequent. Emperor Gaozong and Concubine Min were worried about a recurrence of the Jiashen coup, so they hoped that Ye Luoxin could send more troops to Goryeo.

Ye Luoxin originally had nearly two thousand Korean soldiers.

Five hundred of them have been sent to Goryeo to protect Emperor Gaozong and Concubine Min.

Another 500 people were sent to Aceh to enhance Aceh's strength.

Ye Luoxin didn't dare to make the decision without authorization, so she sent the telegram to Liugong Island.

When George got the telegram, he suddenly remembered something.

During the Nagasaki Incident, the Japanese army accidentally obtained the Beiyang Navy's telegraph codebook, which led to the Beiyang Navy's code being cracked by the Japanese army. This led to the Qing army's mobilization in the Sino-Japanese War and the subsequent negotiations being completely passive.

The password of the Amur Military District has not been changed since it was determined.

George did not know whether the code of the Amur Military District was leaked, but the military code itself should be changed frequently.

There’s no rush, we’ll talk about it after we return to Vladivostok.

George approached Milyutin to discuss whether he should send more troops to Goryeo.

"You are the commander-in-chief of the Amur Military Region, and you have the final say on this matter."

Milyutin respected George and would never overstep his authority.

George then no longer hesitated and sent a telegram back to Ye Luoxin, asking Ye Luoxin to send existing Korean soldiers to the Korean palace, and at the same time ordered Ye Luoxin to continue recruiting Korean soldiers for training.

During the Battle of Aceh, George fully realized how useful the servant army was.

If George sent a group of Cossacks to Goryeo, it would definitely trigger opposition from the British and the Qing Empire.

There will be no problem if we send Goryeo soldiers. This is Goryeo's internal affairs.

(End of this chapter)