Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

Shen Tao said disapprovingly: "Isn't it just setting fire? What's the problem?"

Zhang Hua sighed, and said to Shen Tao as if he was teaching an ignorant child: "Setting fire is a profound knowledge. For example, what do you use to start a fire, and how much do you need to start a fire? You can't always push a Let’s set fire to the firewood from the cart, so that people can see it at a glance, and there is a problem with the wind direction, I only want you to burn the British embassy, ​​and you don’t burn the people around you.”

Zhang Hua finally said seriously: "The most important point is: I want you to start the fire, and I want the British to believe that no one set the fire, and the fire was purely accidental. Can you do it?"

Shen Tao pondered for a while, but Zhang Hua said: "I also know that this is not easy to do. There must be many guards in a place like the confidential room. No matter how skilled you are, it is impossible to avoid them. Moreover, Even if you can enter the confidential room, do you know what documents to take?"

Shen Tao blushed, and said embarrassedly: "Well, I don't know much about this word."

Zhang Hua said with a smile: "In the confidential room of the British, the documents must be written in English. Do you know English?"

Shen Tao shook his head.

Zhang Hua knows that it is not easy for people in this era to recognize their own name, let alone understand English, and said: "Okay then, let's find another way."

Shen Tao asked: "Brother Zhang, if I can light the fire, what plan do you have?"

Zhang Hua said: "I know that there are not many British soldiers in the embassy, ​​and the buildings inside the embassy are all made of wood. It is winter, and the weather is dry. The British will definitely not be able to put out the fire. They must defend the surrounding area." The soldiers of the Qing army at the embassy asked for help, so I pretended to be a member of the Qing army, sneaked into the embassy, ​​and played by ear.”

Seeing Zhang Hua smoking a cigarette, Shen Tao suddenly had an idea and asked, "What if there is a fire and the British soldiers don't leave the confidential room?"

Zhang Hua said with a smile: "No, those documents are more important to us than the lives of British people, but in the eyes of British people, which one is more important than those written on paper or the lives of living people?"

Shen Tao smiled and said: "Brother Zhang, I have a solution. You and I will wait in the camp of the Qing army. One of the leaders there is my defeated general. We don't know each other without fighting. Now we are good buddies."

Zhang Hua asked, "How are you going to set the fire?"

Shen Tao said: "The embassy has few British soldiers, so they focus on guarding the places where the British live. I can sneak in. I light a cigarette and put it on the cotton curtain so that the fire can start. At that time, even if the British find the source of the fire, they will think that someone was smoking and accidentally started the fire."

Zhang Hua put down his cigarette and said, "You can have a try." So he and Shen Tao came to the camp, which was stationed in a big house at the corner of the street, which used to be a palace, but was abandoned later.

Shen Tao got Zhang Hua a suit of soldiers from the Qing army. At twelve o'clock in the evening, when people were sleeping soundly, the British embassy suddenly burst into flames. The wind helped the fire, and the fire took advantage of the wind. , There was a lot of voices.

As soon as the Qing army saw the fire, they immediately ran to help put out the fire. Zhang Hua was mixed in the crowd. As soon as he entered the embassy, ​​Zhang Hua was pulled aside by Shen Tao. In that building, the British soldiers in charge of guarding the building went to fight the fire, and the whole building was empty.

As soon as Shen Tao entered the room, he saw a cabinet next to a cabinet full of file boxes, and asked Zhang Hua at a loss: "Brother Zhang, there are so many files, which one do we want to use?"

Zhang Hua said in a low voice, "Just let me out at the door."

After a while, Zhang Hua came out carrying a bag with documents in it. Shen Tao couldn't help asking: "Brother Zhang, how did you find it?"

Zhang Hua said, "Let's leave quickly, and I'll tell you when we get back."

The two found a place where no one was around, slipped out of the embassy over the wall, returned to the Qing army camp, changed their clothes, and returned to their place of residence in the dark.

Seeing Zhang Hua take out the documents in the box, Shen Tao asked, "Brother Zhang, how did you find these from so many documents?"

Zhang Hua pointed to a series of numbers on the box and said: "This is the complete case number of this file, I can read the filing date of this file from this number, we only need to look at the files of the last few days. "

Shen Tao nodded, and asked again: "Then will there be a British battle plan in this? For example, how many people do they have, and where will they attack from, so that we can set up an ambush on their attack route!"

Zhang Hua laughed dumbfounded, and said: "Don't say that the embassy doesn't have military documents of this kind of campaign tactical level. telegram backup."

Shen Tao looked at the crooked English letters and said, "Brother Zhang, please teach me to recognize these English characters."

Zhang Hua laughed "haha" a few times, and said, "Go and read all the Chinese characters first." After speaking, he lowered his head and began to read the information.

Shen Tao laughed a few times, thinking that he must learn both Chinese characters and British characters well, and then asked: "Brother Zhang, what do we want to see from these telegrams?"

Zhang Hua said: "We need to analyze from it whether the British are determined to launch a war, and if so, what is the possible strategic purpose?"

Shen Tao nodded, and Zhang Hua pulled out a telegram, on which the British embassy notified the government of Cahill's assassination and death, and the government replied: Be prepared to evacuate the British in China at any time.

The evacuation of overseas Chinese is usually a prelude to launching a war. It seems that the British are going to play for real this time.

I read a few more, but none of them had anything to do with this matter. At this time, a telegram caught Zhang Hua's attention. This was a piece of intelligence from the British mainland: immediately notify the Guangzhou Consulate to prepare 4500 tons of high-quality coal in Hong Kong.

Zhang Hua stared at the telegram and pondered for a long time, and Shen Tao asked, "Brother Zhang, what are you staring at?"

Zhang Hua said: "It seems that the British are really going to do something. You see, in order to protect its trade in the world, the Royal Navy patrols the seas of the world. Hong Kong is an important supply station for the British patrol fleet. Why did they suddenly To prepare such a large amount of coal, you must know that this coal can support four Sovereign-class battleships traveling 10 nautical miles at a speed of [-] knots."

Zhang Hua read a few more telegrams, about the tide situation in Guangzhou Bay, and about the housing conditions of residents in Guangzhou City. Zhang Hua concluded that the British are likely to occupy Guangzhou City, and it is very useful to collect information about Guangzhou Bay. It may be to land in Guangzhou to collect information on the residences of Guangzhou residents, and it is very likely to prepare for the occupation of Guangzhou City.

Zhang Hua thought: "If the British really want to do something, when will it be?"

Their marines can be mobilized from the colonies. India is a good choice, but the fleet must come from the mainland. After all, the Qing Dynasty had a very powerful Beiyang Fleet on paper. The warships sailed from the British mainland to Guangzhou. If the speed is fast, it should take about a day. Now it is December 12, and 10 days later will be the beginning of January. January 20 is the most important traditional festival in China. The Spring Festival, will the British choose to do it at this time?

Zhang Hua looked through the useful information again. Intelligence analysis has never been 1895% accurate. He made up his mind and sent the information back to the Beijing warship: Britain is very likely to go to war against the Qing court!The time may be January 1!The strategic purpose may be: to occupy the city of Guangzhou.