Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 40
The silence of the Forbidden City in the middle of the night was terrifying.In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Guan Xuqing was still staring at the map of the strait in a daze, and now the entire Fujian navy was wiped out.The situation of the battle is unknown, although the situation in Vietnam is relatively stable.But it's just a defense, and it's not yet capable of a strategic counterattack.

If history is not to repeat itself, it is necessary to destroy this French fleet, which is now the second largest in the world.But Guan Xuqing only has one Nanyang navy in his hands, and the Beiyang navy has not yet been formed.The task of the Nanyang Navy is quite arduous, and it has to guard the 18000-mile coastline along the southeast coast.It reaches Tianjin Dagu Port in the north and Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau in the south.Now that the Mawei military port has been severely damaged, the shipbuilding industry of the Qing Dynasty has retreated for at least ten years.If something happens to the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, then the shipbuilding industry of the Qing Dynasty will be completely collapsed.

Guan Xuqing thought about it and suddenly saw his hometown of Shanghai in his previous life.At that time, Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau's warship port, but a bold, even a gamble plan gradually formed in the mind.

The next morning, the good news came.Great Victory at Huwei Port!Sun Kaihua led his troops to repel the landing French army, wiped out 1037 enemies and captured 1321 people.The French warship left the strait helplessly, missing.

In the early morning, Guan Xuqing asked the ministers in the Hall of Supreme Harmony: "According to the battle report, the French warship has left the strait. Dear friends, please tell me. Where will this terrifying fleet go to harass us along the coast of the Qing Dynasty?" "

Prince Jin was very distressed when he saw his son was hurting his body and mind for the Sino-French war recently.But seeing him becoming more and more mature, with the appearance of a generation of emperors, he smiled gratifiedly.

Seeing this, Guan Xuqing suddenly asked, "Prince Chun, tell me. What should we do?"

Prince Chun knelt on the ground and said, "I think the French will go north and directly attack Dagu Port in Tianjin. Just like 20 years ago, they landed directly in the palace from Tianjin."

As soon as this remark came out, there was another uproar.All the ministers whispered that many of them had experienced the Second Opium War.The scene of that year is still vivid, Prince Jing Chun said.It's even more likely.

Prince Chun continued: "As far as I know, the French army marched thousands of miles away. They worked hard and mobilized everyone, and they wanted a quick victory. But now, the Vietnam War has reached a stalemate. The French army wants to occupy it again and become its strategic base in the Far East. Nanke bombarded Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi; going north can harass my generation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and threaten my Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau. But now it is solid, and foreigners definitely hope to go straight to the capital.”

"Then what should Prince Yichun see? I can't be allowed to retreat to Rehe like the late emperor!" Guan Xuqing said with a frown.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, you can immediately transfer the Nanyang Navy to assemble in Tianjin Port. The French fleet will definitely come, and the Tianjin Dagukou Fort will cooperate with the Nanyang Navy. Tianjin can be guaranteed worry-free! Then let Dong Liang go from Dalian, Shengjing, Shandong , Zhili Quick Tune and four standard troops came to guard the capital. This is safe and secure." Prince Chun talked eloquently.

"Your Majesty, no! Now that the Mawei Military Port has fallen, the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau is the only shipbuilding base in the Qing Dynasty. If all the Nanyang Navy is transferred to Tianjin, what will the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau do? The Jiangsu and Zhejiang generations of the Qing Dynasty have always been my Qing Dynasty's The granary and the bank are now the economic lifeline of the Qing Dynasty. If the French army did not go north, but attacked our Jiangsu and Zhejiang generations, then what should we do." Weng Tongsu said anxiously.

Guan Xuqing looked at Weng Tongsu without saying a word.Sweeping towards Li Hongzhang again, he continued to ask: "Li Hongzhang, what do you think?"

Li Hongzhang hurried out of the line and said in a trembling voice: "Back to the emperor, I think that what Mr. Weng said is purely imaginary and has no real evidence. But Prince Chun is an old minister who seeks the country, and he has a lesson from the past. I believe that the transfer of the Nanyang Navy to Tianjin is a good example. OK."

Guan Xuqing nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Okay, since Li Aiqing also said the same thing. Let's draw up an order for all the Nanyang Navy to return to Tianjin."

"Cha!" Li Hongzhang and Prince Chun knelt down and replied.

Weng Tongsu looked at the emperor whom he had taught, his disappointment was beyond words!Is this the wise and wise emperor from before?After all, blood is thicker than water.At the critical moment, I still listen to my father's words.In the end, he still pays attention to his own interests, and forgets about the common people and the country and society of the Qing Dynasty.

Touré, commander of the French Far East Army, stood on the deck, looking at the sky in the distance.Thinking about something in the sea breeze, a soldier suddenly ran over: "Report to Mr. Toure, and the cruiser Lisa reported. All the more than 20 gunboats and cruisers of the Qing Nanyang Fleet have all left the port, and their whereabouts are unknown."

Toure was stunned for a moment, and didn't slow down for a long time. "What? Gone? Where did they go? Did they abandon their only remaining shipbuilding factory? Abandon their newly developed industrial city?"

"According to Lisa's report, they may have gone north. They are afraid that we will attack their capital, and they may go back to defend the capital."

"Hahaha, stupid Qing people. Cowardly Qing people. Our army is in a bitter battle in Vietnam. Where is the army going to attack their capital? What a godsend, after they stay away from here, we will leave them alone Destroy the existing shipyard." Toure said happily.

The Nanyang Navy is much stronger than the Fujian Navy. In addition to the "Chaoyong" and "Yang Wei" ordered from the United Kingdom, there are also two behemoths "Changsheng" and "Invincible" originally ordered by Turkey.

In addition, there are three brand-new warships. They are the "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" ordered by the Nanyang Navy at the Hamburg Shipyard in Germany at the beginning of the year, and the three cruisers "Nanfeng" produced by the Mawei Shipyard at the beginning of the year.

There is a big difference between the British and German shipbuilding concepts. The Germans pay more attention to the armor protection of warships.This point can be reflected in the two "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" ships that returned to China at the beginning of the year.Compared with the ultra-fast speed of "Super Brave" and "Yang Wei" at 16 knots, the two German cruisers only had a speed of 13 knots.However, "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" have a displacement of 2000 tons and an all-steel structure.The armored guard is much thicker than the two British cruisers.

The United Kingdom was the number one navy in the world at that time, and they could specially manufacture ships suitable for them for a special task.The cruiser was the ship responsible for communication and escort at that time.The Daqing Water Division is far from reaching such a level, so German ships may be more suitable for Daqing.

As for "Nanfeng", it can be said that it is the culmination of domestic shipbuilding technology.Nanfeng, which was built at the beginning of this year, has a displacement of 2200 tons and a speed of 15 knots. It can be said that it has both the speed of "super brave" and the protection of "Nanji".It can be called a masterpiece in the history of Mawei Shipyard.Unfortunately, after the funding problem was resolved and mass production was being prepared, the Mawei Naval Port suffered a devastating blow.

In addition to these seven capital ships, the Nanyang Navy also has more than ten gunboats, including Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, Zhenbei, Zhenzhong, Zhenbian and other small gunboats purchased by the British Armstrong Shipyard.These gunboats are imitation gunboats on the shore. Although they are not suitable for decisive battles in the ocean, they are still very effective for defending ports with forts, because the gunboats have large muzzle diameters and slow speeds, only 9 knots.

Except for these, the rest are wooden gunboats manufactured by the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau in China.They are all old antiques decades ago, and the speed is 11 knots. However, since most parts of the hull are made of wood, it will burn as long as a shell is hit.The ability to resist blows is quite poor.

Due to Guan Xuqing's special promotion, the commander of the Nanyang Navy is now assumed by Deng Shichang, the hero of the Sino-Japanese War in the Sino-Japanese War.

Receiving a telegram from the court early in the morning, Deng Shichang led seven capital ships and ten small wooden gunboats to Tianjin.Eleven small defensive gunboats were left to guard the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau.

When Deng Shichang first drove to Yantai, a huge cargo ship appeared in front of him.

(End of this chapter)