Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 230: The First Fleet in the Western Ocean! The Giant on the Sea
The First Fleet of the British Empire!

At the Dongying Wharf in Daqian Shandong, more than fifty warships arrived at this moment.

It is so majestic that it gives people a spiritual shock that cannot be described in words.

Admiral Waldersee!
Duke of the British Empire and commander-in-chief of the First Western Fleet.

Following him to the Daqian Dynasty were Lieutenant General Camille from the British East India Company and Vice Admiral William from the British Navy.

Toot—toot—!
The sound of the whistle echoed throughout the Dongying Wharf.

The largest battleship of the British Empire, the 3-ton super sea giant 'Elizabeth', was seen approaching the coastline of the Daqian Dynasty.

Waldersee looked to be nearly sixty years old.

He is a little fat and looks in good spirits.

at this time,

He looked up at the continent ahead of him, a smile on his face.

Finally arrived at the destination!
However, there was one thing that made him very dissatisfied. The original plan was to dock at Tianjin Port in Daqian.

but,

In the end, the warship's docking location was changed and it arrived at Dongying Port in Daqian Shandong.

Waldersee is the Duke of the British Empire and a true aristocrat.

He made great contributions to the British Empire's ocean-going fleet.

Over the years, he led the First Fleet and swept across many places.

He spent many years in India and was one of the heads of the East India Company.

He had long wanted to come to the Daqian Dynasty, an ancient Eastern civilization.

This time,
Finally, I arrived at this fertile land as I wished.

He had received military reports about Seymour's disastrous defeat in the Daqian Dynasty.

To be honest, until now, he still couldn't understand what had happened.

The Seymour coalition forces actually suffered two disastrous defeats and inflicted heavy losses.

Not only was Hunter's coalition defeated, but even Johnson's coalition was completely wiped out.

In the two major battles, the Western Allied Forces lost thousands of prisoners.

All this put the negotiations between the Western coalition and the Daqian Dynasty in an extremely unfavorable situation.

Such a result is simply a shame for the British Empire.

When Waldersee received the battle report, he could not believe it.

This time,
He brought the British Empire's first ocean-going fleet and was determined to teach Daqian a lesson and let them know how powerful the British Empire was.

The First Fleet had a total of fifty-two warships.

The battleship was the largest in the British Empire, the Elizabeth, as well as six armored cruisers and twenty-four gunboats.

There were also some ironclad ships and transport ships.

The total force reaches 30,000!

This does not include the coalition forces of other countries, but the elite troops of the British Empire.

Waldersee will avenge the Western Allied Forces and restore their prestige.

When the First Fleet of the British Empire joined the Seymour Allied Fleet.

Seymour took all the soldiers aboard the battleship "Elizabeth".

It’s too big——!
It is worthy of being the First Fleet of the British Empire and also the largest battleship in the world.

The battleship "Elizabeth", with a displacement of 3 tons, represents the world's most advanced shipbuilding technology.

Inside the battleship's conference hall.

Waldersee met with Seymour and the commanders of various countries of the Western Allied Forces.

After everyone sat down, Waldersee said calmly:

"General Seymour, please tell me the details. What is the current situation?"

Lieutenant General Seymour nodded, stood up and reported:

"Yes! Your Excellency, the coalition's warships were not damaged. All the warships are intact."

"We currently have a total of 93,000 troops. The Hunter coalition was defeated in the last battle, with 27,600 soldiers killed and 6,800 missing—!"

"During this period, we negotiated with the Daqian Dynasty and redeemed French Commander Freck and British Empire Major General Johnson and other officers and soldiers."

"in addition--!"

Next,
Seymour continued to introduce the recent situation.

He placed the copy of the Australia-Hong Kong Treaty, which he had prepared long ago, in front of Waldersee with both hands.

"Your Excellency the Duke, this is the 'Aogang Treaty' we signed with the Daqian Dynasty after we came to the Daqian Dynasty!"

"According to the terms of the treaty, the Daqian Dynasty will compensate the British Empire with five million taels of silver and lease these two places to us."

"Our 'Dayan' is allowed to enter Daqian for trading, and four trading ports are opened along the coast."

"The British Empire is in Daqian and has the privileges of an empire—!"

This was an unequal treaty signed after the Seymour coalition forces arrived in Daqian.

This treaty shows how domineering the Western Allied Forces are.

in fact,

If Seymour had not been greedy, he would have been rewarded if he had returned to the British Empire based solely on this unequal treaty.

Waldersee opened the Australia-Hong Kong Treaty and looked at the terms.

then,

He put the "Australia-Hong Kong Treaty" aside and said with a curled lip:
"Her Majesty the Queen has issued the latest order. The Aogang area of the Daqian Dynasty is far from enough!"

"We, the British Empire, have invested so many resources, and even united the forces of 11 countries. How can it be enough to just take over two small places in the south of the Daqian Dynasty?"

"The eastern Zhejiang region must be occupied, and southern Jiangsu is also within the colonial sphere of our Great British Empire."

"Even the Tianjin port of the Daqian Dynasty must be opened to us unconditionally to ensure the safety of our maritime trade in the British Empire."

"In addition, our 'opium' will be promoted unconditionally in the Daqian Dynasty. Their previous resistance caused us to pay three times the losses!"

"Five million taels of silver is too little. Increase it to fifty million taels."

"Also, we cannot give up the Liaodong region in Daqian to the Japanese. We must have a colony that belongs to our Great British Empire."

"We are the empire on which the sun never sets. Wherever the sun shines, there is the flag of our Great Britain."

His tone seemed very calm.

but,

The firmness in his tone did not allow anyone to question it.

Seymour suddenly felt a chill in his heart and his face turned pale.

Have the treaties signed and the achievements made since I came to the Daqian Dynasty been completely rejected?

Not enough! ?
At this moment, Seymour felt bitter.

Hasn't he thought this way before?
It was because they felt that it was not enough and that their interests had not been expanded that they bombarded the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin.

He ordered the Hunter coalition to attack the Tanggu port first, hoping to capture Tianjin and march straight into the capital.

but,

Unexpectedly, the Western Allied Forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the Tanggu Port.

"That's all! That's all!"

Seymour suddenly felt discouraged.

He knew that even if he tried to persuade Waldersee it would be useless as the other party would never listen to him.

Waldersee brought the first fleet of the British Empire to the Daqian Dynasty, and his purpose was self-evident.

He would never give up if he didn't get the benefits he deserved.

Waldersee looked up at Seymour and said coldly:

"We, the British Empire, have invested too many resources in this far east."

"Her Majesty the Queen and the cabinet ministers have discussed together that the Daqian Dynasty must sign a treaty that satisfies everyone."

"And in the Daqian Dynasty, we in Great Britain must station troops and disband these indigenous armies."

Seymour nodded and said nothing more.

Now he just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, leave Daqian, and return to the British Empire.

From Waldersee's tone, he could feel that the two disastrous defeats of the Western Allied Forces seemed to be blamed on himself.

He bowed to Waldersee and said:

"Dear Lord Duke Waldersee, I believe you can accomplish the strategic goals of our Great British Empire!"

"I'm leaving now, bye--!"

finished,

Seymour turned and left the meeting hall of the battleship Elizabeth. He was no longer the commander-in-chief of the Western Allied Forces, so there was no need for him to continue to attend the meeting.

Seeing Seymour's back as he walked away, Waldersee couldn't help but snort coldly.

This time the Western coalition suffered an unprecedented defeat, and Seymour would be punished by the cabinet after returning to the British Empire.

When Charlie and other commanders saw Seymour leave, they suddenly felt a sense of sympathy.

If Seymour was punished, all the commanders of the Western Allied Forces would be to blame.

The two disastrous defeats of the Western Allied Forces were definitely not caused by Seymour's command mistakes.

If it were not for Seymour's caution and reluctance to launch a general offensive, the Western Allied Forces would have suffered even greater losses.

Even the entire Western coalition might be wiped out.

Now the Western Allied Forces' fleet remains intact and has suffered no losses.

All of this is actually thanks to Seymour.

Charles stood up and said to Admiral Waldersee:
"Your Excellency the Duke, our fleet has come all the way to the East. Our goal is the same: to occupy this land!"

"General Seymour has put a lot of effort into this and has achieved very important results."

"This Australia-Hong Kong Treaty was a contract that the British Empire coalition forces forced the Daqian Dynasty to sign after sacrificing many lives."

"General Seymour is a hero of our Western Allied Forces!"

Wow——!
As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant General Eisenberg, deputy commander-in-chief of the Western Allied Forces, also stood up.

He said in a loud voice:

"General Charlie is right. Lieutenant General Seymour has done his best."

"The two consecutive defeats were due to errors in our intelligence. The army of the Daqian Dynasty is not so vulnerable!"

"Especially at the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin, we encountered unprecedented bombardment."

"Our troops stationed in the Bian Du Concession were easily defeated by the Da Qian soldiers, and all the strategic materials were seized by them."

Hanis, another deputy commander, also stood up and said:
"The Daqian Dynasty has more advanced artillery than ours, and their muskets are more powerful and have a longer range than ours!"

At this time,

Duke Waldersee narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

Vice Admiral William of the First Fleet, who was following him, said disdainfully:

"General Hanis, you are not kidding, are you?"

"The Daqian Dynasty doesn't even have a complete industry. How could they possibly have more powerful artillery and muskets than us?"

Hanis explained seriously:
"I'm not kidding! The artillery equipped by the Daqian Dynasty's army is extremely powerful."

"More than 10,000 elite soldiers of the Johnson coalition were completely wiped out in less than ten minutes under the enemy's artillery fire."

"They not only have countless artillery pieces, but also plenty of ammunition."

William couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard this.

"Haha - General Hanis, there is nothing shameful about losing to the Daqian army, but you find such an excuse to shirk responsibility for yourself, don't you think it's ridiculous?"

"this--!"

Hanis wanted to argue, but all of a sudden, he was speechless.

To be honest, he himself wasn't sure.

Because he did not experience the bombardment personally.

When the Hunter coalition forces were covered by Simon Hall's artillery fire, he was on a warship at sea dozens of kilometers away.

During the battle of Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal, he was not present on the battlefield when Johnson was bombarded.

But there is no doubt that Simon Hall’s artillery is very powerful.

The intensive bombardment could be heard from warships dozens of kilometers away.

That kind of earth-shaking bombardment was simply the end of the world.

Moreover, after Major General Johnson was redeemed, he seemed to have some mental problems and was frightened.

in addition,

Hannis and the other redeemed soldiers knew about Simon Hall's muskets.

It is a new automatic rifle that can fire in bursts.

It has high accuracy, strong firepower and fast firing speed, and is much more advanced than the muskets of the British Empire.

After thinking about it,
Hanis sighed and said, "If it were any other Daqian army, our Western coalition would be sure to win."

"But if we run into the Ximentang Righteous Group, we must retreat!"

"Their muskets and artillery are much more advanced than our weapons."

Hear this,

Duke Waldersee frowned slightly; he could tell that Hanis was not joking.

"With the Daqian Dynasty's industrial base, it's impossible for them to produce advanced weapons. If it's the Japanese, then it's very possible!"

suddenly,
He remembered something and said solemnly, "Could it be that the Japanese are supporting the Daqian Dynasty behind the scenes and secretly fighting against our Western coalition forces?"

Charlie shook his head and said uncertainly:
"Not sure, it's hard to judge at the moment!"

"But the weapons the Japanese currently have seem to be similar to ours. Many of their artillery and warships were purchased from us."

"The same goes for the Northern Russians. Their weapons are not more advanced than ours."

"After Ximentang took over the Biandu Concession, they took away our 'Krupp Infantry Gun' and 'Maxim Heavy Machine Gun'."

"So General Hanis is right. Once we encounter Ximen Tang's army, we can't fight them head-on!"

Duke Waldersee heard the three words "Simon Hall" in succession.

He was somewhat surprised and asked:

"What does Ximen Hall do? Aren't we talking about the Daqian Dynasty? Why do we keep talking about 'Ximen Hall'?"

Charlie quickly replied:
"My Lord Duke, Ximentang is a 'militia' force formed by the Daqian Dynasty, not a regular army of the court——!"

for the rest of the time,

He told Waldersee in detail the information he had obtained about Simon Hall.

Finally, he said with a serious look:

"When the Hunter coalition forces first attacked the Tianjin Tanggu Port, they were about to succeed, but the Ximentang Righteous Group suddenly appeared."

"With 500 men, they defeated the first attack by the Hunter coalition forces."

"The second attack followed. Hunter assembled 15,000 elite troops, including 35,000 colonial troops. Unexpectedly, they were defeated by the Ximentang Righteous Group again."

"The Ximentang Righteous Group is the most mysterious and terrifying army in the Daqian Dynasty."

"Their total force has now reached 20,000. At the Cangzhou Canal Transport Terminal, Major General Johnson's elite troops were defeated by Ximen Tang's 3,000 men and were completely wiped out."

"Their elite force of 3,000 people, according to intelligence, has 500 artillery pieces!"

"The head of Ximen Hall, Chen Jie, is said to be a young man who returned from studying abroad in the West. He is very familiar with various industrial reforms in the West. He built arsenals and shipyards by himself and formed a modern army!"

"We want to occupy the Daqian Dynasty, and Ximen Hall will become the biggest obstacle!"

Lieutenant General William opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief:

"Ximentang is just a 'militia' organization? Not the regular army of the imperial court? How can its fighting power be so strong?"

"General Charlie, where are they stationed now?"

Charlie couldn’t help but take a deep breath when he heard this:
"It's at the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin! It's also known as the restricted area for the Western Fleet. Even the Eastern Fleet doesn't dare to approach it."

"But according to the latest news, they are going to be transferred to Shandong. We must evacuate Dongying, Shandong before they do."

Duke Waldersee waved his hand to stop Charles from continuing and said in a deep voice:

"Okay! Ximentang is just a 'militia' organization with only 20,000 troops. There is nothing to worry about."

"General Charlie, please tell me about your previous plan!"

"We must achieve our strategic goal this time and make the Daqian Dynasty surrender to the artillery of the British Empire."

"—"

Zhao Tianba was overjoyed when he saw that the First Fleet of the British Empire had arrived in Dongying, Shandong.

When he saw the giant battleship "Elizabeth", he was extremely shocked.

too strong--!
This battleship has hundreds of naval guns, including more than twenty large-caliber heavy guns.

Moreover, the fleet was surrounded by fine iron armor, and ordinary artillery could not blast through the armor at all.

Around the battleship, six armored cruisers followed, surrounding and protecting the battleship like an iron barrel.

Zhao Tianba quickly notified the Taiping's priests and guardians, asking them to keep an eye on the imperial court's troop movements.

and,

The Taiping must pay special attention to all actions of the Ximen Hall and report at any time.

The British First Fleet joined forces with the Western Fleet. Such a powerful force could almost crush the Daqian Dynasty's coastal defense.

This is the Taiping's chance to rise again!
(End of this chapter)