The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 955 Mexico, your good fortune has arrived!

The morning mist over the Pacific had not yet dissipated when eight massive steel ships appeared like ghosts on the horizon off the west coast of Maui. George Dewey stood motionless on the bridge of the USS Constitution, his gilded binoculars in hand. The outline of Canapali Beach was already visible in the binoculars, with a few simple wooden watchtowers standing forlornly at the edge of the beach.

"7500 yards, wind speed 12 knots, westward." The artillery sergeant's voice hummed through the megaphone. Dewey nodded slightly, his fingertips tapping three soft sounds on the brass armrest.

"All ships fire simultaneously."

Thirty-two 12-inch main guns simultaneously spewed orange-red flames, and armor-piercing shells weighing 850 pounds whistled through the morning sky. The first salvo's impact points were somewhat scattered, but the second salvo formed a perfect strafing attack—three shells in a triangular formation tore the central watchtower to pieces, and the fourth shell directly hit an ammunition depot storing 150mm shells, the towering fireball illuminating half the beach as if it were daytime.

"Adjust parameters, extend firing." Dewey's voice was eerily calm. He glanced at his pocket watch: 05:17. According to plan, the Marines should have established a beachhead by 06:00.

On the sea, more than forty landing craft were cutting through the waves. Each craft was crammed with thirty fully armed Marines, their eyes behind their helmets fixed on the approaching coastline. As the third round of shelling began, the captain of the lead craft suddenly raised a signal flag—a white flag was flying on the shore!

“That’s…” Dewey raised his binoculars again. He saw several militiamen, possibly Hawaiian natives, frantically waving bedsheets; behind them lay the completely collapsed fortifications. “Cease fire!” The US Navy vice admiral finally revealed a victor’s smile. “Get the Marines moving faster!”

At 06:23, the first Stars and Stripes was planted on the high ground of Canapéli Beach. Dewey watched the messenger raise the "Mission Accomplished" signal flag and suddenly burst into laughter. He turned to his adjutant and said, "Send a message to Christmas Island: 'Coconuts have been picked, orchard owner is still asleep.'" This was the pre-arranged code, signifying that they had successfully achieved tactical surprise.

As the bell in the Pearl Harbor operations room struck six, Huang Chengzhong was carefully reviewing the defense plan for Oahu, which his staff had drafted overnight. He rubbed his sore eyes and was suddenly startled by a rapid knocking on the door, causing his pen to pause.

"Come in!"

The communications officer practically stumbled in, his hands frantically clicking the telegram: "Admiral! Urgent dispatch from Maui! US Eastern Fleet."

Huang Chengzong snatched the telegram; the handwriting on the paper seemed to dance: "At dawn today, the enemy's main fleet bombarded Canapali. The defending forces have suffered more than half casualties. Requesting urgent support."

"We've been tricked!" The sandalwood table trembled violently from the impact, the teacup overturned, and brown tea spilled across the table. "How could it be Maui?"

The operations staff fell silent. On the huge nautical chart on the wall, the red arrows representing the enemy all pointed to Oahu—no one had expected that the American fleet would actually avoid the enemy's strength and attack Maui instead.

But even if you thought of it, it wouldn't have mattered, because there were hardly any ships in Pearl Harbor!
Huang Chengzhong suddenly sprang to his feet, grabbed his command baton, and slammed it down on the sand table: "Contact the 'Shandong' immediately! Order Liu Buchan to return to port at once!"

"Admiral, the 'Sea Dragon' is on an escort mission to the Inca Empire, carrying 15 tons of saltpeter and guano."

"Then get all the existing ships moving!" Huang Chengzhong's forehead veins bulged. "All 'Flying Eagle' class ships immediately form a commerce raiding squadron and cut off the shipping route between Maui and Christmas Island!" He turned to the communications officer, "Send a telegram back to Maui: Hold Haleakala Volcano to the death! If they lose the high ground, I'll shoot them!"

When he was finally alone in the operations room, Huang Chengzhong slumped down in despair. Outside the window, six Flying Eagle-class armored cruisers were billowing black smoke.

The torrential rains in Nicaragua came suddenly and violently. Luo Xinzhong squatted in a makeshift tarpaulin tent, repeatedly checking the map by the light of a kerosene lamp. Rainwater seeped in through the gaps in the canvas, making everything damp.

"Brigade Commander, the reconnaissance team is back!"

A scout, soaked to the bone, crawled in, raindrops dripping from his helmet: "The garrison at Blenka Bay hasn't sent any more patrols, and the transport ships on the canal are still operating at a frequency of two per hour."

Luo Xinzhong's eyes lit up. He abruptly ripped open the tent flap, and a torrential downpour immediately lashed out. On the distant mountain ridge, a dozen or so 150mm howitzers, camouflaged with tree branches, were vaguely visible.

"Order all battalions to proceed according to Plan C!"

Three red signal flares suddenly tore through the rain. In an instant, two thousand soldiers lurking in the jungle leaped out simultaneously. Luo Xinzhong personally led the charge towards the high ground, his leather boots making a teeth-grinding sound as they sank into the mud.

As they surged up the ridge, the sight before them took everyone's breath away—the Nicaragua Canal, like a silver ribbon, meandered into the distance through the rain and mist. Three coal ships flying the Stars and Stripes were slowly passing through the locks.

"Fire!"

Fifteen howitzers roared simultaneously. The first salvo hit the lock control tower, and the brick and stone structure collapsed like building blocks. The sailors on the coal ships jumped into the canal in panic, and one of them crashed into the lock gate in its haste, the black smoke from which was quickly extinguished by the torrential rain.

“Give the ‘California’ a power source!” Luo Xinzhong wiped the rain off his face, grinning like a child who had found a toy. “Just say: ‘The canal is cut off, we’re trapped like turtles in a jar!’”

Just as a communications officer (the Divine Blessed Officer) was about to turn around, she suddenly pointed downstream in the canal and cried out, "Brigadier General, look!" A US destroyer was frantically reversing, its stern almost crashing into the cliff on the west bank. Luo Xinzhong grabbed the binoculars and clearly saw the panicked figures of the officers on the bridge. "Notify the gun crews, prepare to fire! Target!"

At the morning assembly at the Imperial Palace in the United States, the sight of the attendant stumbling in made Hong Tiangui frown. But when the telegram was handed to him, his expression shifted from annoyance to shock, and finally to ecstatic joy.

"Good! Good! Good!" Hong Tiangui slammed his hand on the dragon table three times, making the teacups clink. "That kid Luo Xinzhong has really made me proud!"

Zhao Zai took the telegram and quickly glanced at it, his expression immediately relaxing: "Your Majesty, General Luo has cut off the Nicaragua Canal? That's the US East Coast Pacific Fleet."

"They've become motherless children!" Hong Tiangui laughed loudly. "Even if they succeed in attacking Pearl Harbor, so what?"

At that moment, Han Yulin rushed in.

The First Minister of the Navy, without even having time to bow to the Emperor, said urgently, "Huang Chengzhong just sent an urgent telegram: the white people on Maui in the eastern United States are not going to attack Pearl Harbor, but to seize Maui!"

“Maui is nothing!” A look of worry flashed across Hong Tiangui’s face, which immediately turned to joy: “Look! Dewey’s fleet now has Hawaii in front and Nicaragua behind, just like…” He suddenly stopped and turned to look at Brigham Young.

"Like a kite with a broken string, Your Majesty," the Foreign Minister whispered.

"Yes! Kite!" Hong Tiangui paced excitedly in the hall. "Issue my decree: confer upon Luo Xinzhong the title of Earl of the American Empire and award him the Golden Dragon Medal! Also, send a telegram to Luo Xinhua, instructing him to ignore Hawaii and concentrate all his efforts on assisting his brother in capturing Blenka Bay!"

After saying this, he suddenly pulled Brigham Young over: "My dear minister, set off for Mexico City immediately! Tell Diaz," a sly glint in Hong Tiangui's eyes, "that now is the golden opportunity for the Mexican Empire and the United States to stand together and achieve greatness again!"

"The Empire?" Young Brigham was taken aback.

“Yes!” Hong Tiangui laughed. “As long as he is willing, I will support Mexico to become an empire!”

The cigar smoke in the White House Situation Room was so thick it could choke you. Garfield stared at the two glaring red crosses on the nautical chart—Maui and Blenka Bay—and felt his temples throbbing.

"Gentlemen," he said in a hoarse voice, "shouldn't we consider..."

"What are you considering? Surrender?" General Sherman slammed his fist on the table, making the coffee cup jump. "Mr. President, General Dewey has taken Maui!"

Navy Secretary William Hunt, however, turned pale: "But the Nicaragua Canal has been cut off! The Pacific Fleet is now..."

"We've got the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by the throat!" Sherman interrupted sharply. "Maui is only 100 kilometers from Oahu, and our fleet can be there at any time."

"We could starve to death there at any moment!" Finance Minister Wyndham suddenly shrieked. "Do you know how much coal it takes to keep eight battleships afloat every day?"

Lincoln's son, Secretary of War Abraham Lincoln Jr., shouted: "The British will solve the coal problem for our Pacific Fleet! As long as our fleet is at Maui and Christmas Atoll, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's South Pacific Fleet will be unable to attack Port Moresby!"

The arguing nearly lifted the roof off. Garfield closed his eyes in anguish, the words Dewey had spoken during last year's naval exercises flashing through his mind: "Give me three months, and I can nail the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's navy to Hawaii." Now, three months had passed, and who had actually been nailed to the ground?

"Mr. President!" The communications officer burst through the door. "A telegram forwarded from London! Royal Navy airships have observed our flag being raised over Maui!"

Dead silence. Then Sherman burst into maniacal laughter: "What did I tell you! Dewey succeeded! Mr. President, this is a major victory!"

Garfield, his hands trembling, took the telegram, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Gentlemen, this is not only an American victory! It is also a British victory, and even more so..." He stood up abruptly, a strange glint in his eyes, "Contact the Mexican embassy immediately and tell them..."

"What did you say?" Secretary of State Brian asked, taken aback.

"The door to victory has been opened for Mexico! Now is the time for Mexico to stand with the United States of America, the British Empire, and the principles of justice and righteousness throughout the world!" Garfield's voice rose higher and higher. "Let President Diaz see the situation clearly; it's not too late to take sides!"

(End of this chapter)