Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 250: The Truth! Within Artillery Range
Woohoo——!
The sea breeze howled.

Waldersee standing on top of the conning tower of the battleship Elizabeth.

He was high above, overlooking the entire sea area of ​​Haizhongzhou.

this moment,
He looked at the twelve armored cruisers and hundreds of other warships surrounding the battleship Elizabeth.

Unconsciously, a feeling of heroism arises.

The overlord of the sea, invincible!
It seems that any opponent will be vulnerable in front of his huge fleet.

The First Fleet of the Western Allied Forces!

This is not just empty talk.

at this time,

Waldersee turned his gaze toward Dinghai Island and used the telescope to look toward Ningbo in eastern Zhejiang.

His heart was filled with anticipation.

Today we must conquer this mysterious and ancient Eastern continent and establish a vast colonial rule here.

The British Empire was known as the 'Empire on which the Sun Never Sets' because of its establishment of colonies around the world.

In order to conquer the Daqian Dynasty.

The British Empire was prepared for many years and was not a sudden impulse.

Waldersee came with a mission from Her Majesty the Queen, and he wanted to accomplish his goal.

When he thought about conquering this great Eastern country, Waldersee's heart became very excited and a sense of pride emerged.

He is fifty-nine years old this year and will soon be sixty.

He is a Duke of the British Empire and has been in the military for nearly forty years.

He participated in the war between the British Empire and the Dutch, and also participated in the war between the British Empire and the Spanish Empire.

He made great achievements in two key battles and became a nobleman of the British Empire.

He made great contributions to the British Empire becoming the maritime hegemon.

and,

He spent many years in colonial India and was a core member of the 'East India Company'.

This time when the First Western Fleet marched eastward, he replaced Lieutenant General Seymour and became the commander-in-chief.

Before setting out,
Queen Elizabeth had high hopes for him and promoted him to a member of the 'Cabinet' of the British Empire.

to be frank,
He has long been drooling over the ancient Eastern civilization, the 'Daqian Dynasty'!

This land has countless wealth and brilliant civilization.

He believed that the 130,000 Western coalition forces under his command would be able to sweep across the Daqian Dynasty.

The battleship HMS Elizabeth beneath his feet was the product of the arms race between the British Empire and West Germany, and had been launched less than a year earlier.

It has a displacement of 32000 tons, a total length of 193 meters, a beam of 31 meters, and a draft of 9.2 meters.
A true giant on the sea!

Among the military powers in Europe, the launching of the battleship "Elizabeth" also represented the peak of the British Empire's dominance over the oceans.

This is the world's largest battleship. There are only five battleships of the same level, namely:

Elizabeth, Warspite, Barham, Warrior, Malaya!
In terms of the battleship's firepower configuration, speed, and armor, it is stronger than other battleships.

Although the economy of the British Empire was in a downturn and began to fall into economic inflation.

However, it does not affect its military development.

The only way to solve the inflation problem is to launch a new round of war and plunder.

The Western powers were headed by the British Empire, naturally because it was the strongest.

therefore,

Waldersee felt a strong sense of self-confidence at this moment, but he was not arrogant.

Just when Waldersee was full of confidence.

I heard footsteps behind me and someone climbed up the stairs to the watchtower.

Waldersee turned his head and looked, a smile appearing on his face.

The person who climbed up the watchtower was an extremely handsome young officer.

He has golden hair and a high nose bridge, and at first glance he looks like a true aristocrat.

This is a young man with blue eyes and a resolute face, shrewd and capable.

He came up to Waldersee and saluted:
"Your Excellency Duke Waldersee, Jack Bonaparte reports to you!"

Waldersee looked up at the young man in front of him with a smile on his face:
"Major General Jack Bonaparte, you finally arrived at the Daqian Dynasty. I have been waiting for you for almost a month!"

Although Waldersee's status, military rank, age, etc. are much higher than those of the young man in front of him named Jack Bonaparte.

but,

But he absolutely did not dare to underestimate the young man in front of him.

He is the heir of the French 'Bonaparte' family and has a very noble bloodline in Europe.

The 'Bonaparte' family holds a pivotal position in Europe.

In the last century, this family gave birth to a man who influenced the European landscape. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte!
and,

Jack Bonaparte's personal resume is also extraordinary.

He joined the First French Army at the age of sixteen, and by the age of eighteen he had been promoted to sous-lieutenant in the French Imperial Army.

More importantly, he is a 'Silver Knight' who has obtained a medal!
He made great achievements in the French First Army and was promoted to major general at the age of 26.

He was the chief military officer of the French Royal Guard and spent three years in France.

At only twenty-nine years old, he had already become one of the supreme commanders of the French Army.

This time, the Western Allied Forces’ Parliament was established to prevent the British Empire from dominating the coalition.

Therefore,
When Waldersee led the First Fleet of the Western Allied Forces and arrived at the Daqian Dynasty.

Jack Bonaparte received an order from the "Parliamentary Group" and set out from France to the Daqian Dynasty to serve as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Western Allied Forces.

Although Waldersee was the commander-in-chief of the Western Allied Forces, he had only taken over the command from Seymour for less than a month.

In terms of prestige in the Allied Forces, Waldersee had extremely high prestige in the British Imperial Army.

However, the Western coalition was not a monolithic entity.

Many commanders from other countries in the Western Allied Forces had complaints against Waldersee.

After Waldersee became commander-in-chief, he behaved too selfishly and liked to keep all the benefits for himself.

He even wanted to operate the opium business exclusively, unlike Seymour, who wanted everyone to make money and have a share of the pie.

The French "Bonaparte" family was one of the initiators of the eleven-nation coalition.

In the Western Allied Forces, the prestige of the French "Bonaparte Family" was no less than that of Waldersee of the British Empire.

not to mention,
Jack Bonaparte is young and has great prestige to the entire Western Alliance.

Waldersee was very disgusted with Jack Bonaparte's arrival.

He finally kicked Seymour out of the Western Alliance and firmly controlled the command.

He didn't expect that another French noble major-general would come. How could he be happy?

but,

Since Jack Bonaparte has arrived, Waldersee naturally can't give him a hard time.

In fact, Jack Bonaparte was very reluctant to come to the Daqian Dynasty this time.

but,

He was a very decisive and responsible general of the French Empire.

During this month, he learned a lot about the Daqian Dynasty and did enough homework.

Originally according to Jack Bonaparte's idea, the Western coalition forces would first capture the Wan Island and the Penghu Islands before attacking the Daqian Dynasty.

To know,
Prior to this, the Bay Island was occupied by the Dutch fleet and became a Dutch colony.

Then,

The Spanish fleet and the Dutch fought a fierce battle for control of the Bay Island.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese implemented the "Meiji Restoration", continuously improved their national strength, and purchased many advanced warships and weapons from the British Empire.

At last,
The Japanese defeated the Dutch, routed the Spanish fleet, and occupied the Gulf Islands.

Next, the Japanese forced the Daqian Dynasty to sign an unequal treaty and cede the Wandao Island.

The French army had already fought a battle with the Japanese for the ownership of the Bay Island.

Unfortunately, due to the long distance, supplies are very difficult to obtain.

In the end, the French fleet lost and had to withdraw from the fight for the Bay Island.

After Jack Bonaparte arrived in the waters of the Daqian Dynasty, the first thing he did was to let Waldersee lead the fleet to sweep across the Japanese in the Wandao and occupy the Wandao and Penghu Islands.

but,

What he didn't expect was that before he arrived, Waldersee took the lead in landing on Dinghai Island of the Daqian Dynasty and bombarded the Daqian Dynasty's Zhejiang East Sea Defense Line.

Jack Bonaparte met Waldersee and exchanged pleasantries for a while.

he asked:
"Your Excellency Duke Waldersee, why did you choose to station on Dinghai Island in eastern Zhejiang during the Daqian Dynasty?"

Waldersee explained with a smile:
"Dinghai Island is very large and can be used as our base for attacking the Daqian Dynasty!"

Jack Bonaparte was slightly startled when he heard this.

He hesitated for a moment and asked:
"Your Excellency the Duke, why did you suddenly change your mind and switch from attacking Nanjing in southern Jiangsu to attacking Dinghai in eastern Zhejiang?"

"Remember that before we set off, the plan I got from the Western Allied Forces' First Fleet was to occupy the Bay Island first!"

"Drive the Japanese out of Wandao, then establish a permanent colonial base on Wandao, and then expand towards the mainland of the Daqian Dynasty!"

"Tianjin, Shandong, southern Jiangsu, eastern Zhejiang, southern Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi - the coastal line of the Daqian Dynasty has great strategic significance."

"Dinghai Island is just a fishing island with a small population. Although it is large, it has few resources."

"Why did you give up Wandao, then gave up Jinling in southern Jiangsu, and finally came to Dinghai? What made you change your plan?"

Waldersee smiled and explained:

"Major General Jack Bonaparte, to use the words of the Daqian Dynasty, the way of war is the way of deception, the real and the fake, the ever-changing, the unexpected is the best strategy!"

"At the beginning, the Daqian Dynasty thought that our Western coalition forces would land in Dongying, Shandong, and attack the Dagukou Fortress in Tianjin."

"The Daqian Dynasty was in a state of panic and quickly strengthened the defenses of these two locations."

"The Japanese took the opportunity to land in Qingdao, Shandong, but they suffered heavy losses and were almost wiped out."

"More than a month ago, I had already spread the news that I was going to attack Jinling, the capital of southern Jiangsu in the Daqian Dynasty."

"During this period, the Daqian Dynasty sent an additional 200,000 troops to Jinling."

"At this time, if we continue to attack Jinling, even if we can win, we will suffer heavy losses."

"I have received news that the Daqian Dynasty has dispatched troops from eastern Zhejiang to support Jinling. Currently, eastern Zhejiang is short of troops!"

"At the same time, the righteous organization 'White Lotus' in eastern Zhejiang has risen up and is in rebellion!"

"So, it is definitely the best opportunity for us to attack eastern Zhejiang at this time."

"I've had enough of the Daqian court's delay. I don't want to waste any more time. I'll go ashore directly from Dinghai and build a base. Then, using Dinghai Island as a stronghold, I'll start heading northeast to Zhejiang and head straight for Hangzhou!"

have to say,

Although this old guy Waldersee is old, he is very experienced in tactical arrangements.

He made a feint in Nanjing, and even Ximen Tang and the Japanese believed that the main attack direction of the Western coalition forces would be Nanjing in southern Jiangsu.

In order to deal with the attack of the Western coalition forces, the Daqian Military Department sent more than 100,000 troops to Nanjing.

but,

Waldersee suddenly changed the location of the attack, catching everyone off guard.

Jack Bonaparte shook his head and said:

"Your Excellency, the righteous group 'White Lotus' in eastern Zhejiang was the first to rebel, but they have moved to another place amid the internal struggle within Daqian."

"Before I came here, I spent three days in Guangdong and Guangxi."

"If you can launch an attack in eastern Zhejiang half a month in advance, it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it is very likely that you can capture the entire eastern Zhejiang."

"Unfortunately, the rebellion within the Daqian Dynasty has basically been quelled, and our Western coalition has lost this opportunity!"

Upon hearing this, Waldersee burst into laughter.

"No, no, no—you are wrong, Master Jack Bonaparte!"

"The news you received is correct. The rebellion within the Daqian Dynasty has been quelled."

"But have you ever thought that the rebellion is not really stopped, but is gathering momentum like a volcano?"

"Because the Japanese suddenly established the Kwantung Army in the northeast of the Daqian Dynasty and continued to increase their troops."

"So all the major families and factions within the Daqian Dynasty felt the crisis!"

"They stopped the rebellion because they wanted to observe the situation. This is the time when Daqian's defense is the weakest."

"As long as the powder keg is lit, believe me, the internal war of the Daqian Dynasty will soon burn."

"In addition, there are many reefs in Haizhongzhou. We occupy the most advantageous position. Other warships cannot get close at all."

"So it is the best choice for us to land in Dinghai and build it into a stronghold for attacking eastern Zhejiang."

"I can attack or defend. I am not interested in the place called East Zhejiang. I want the whole Daqian!"

Speaking of this, Waldersee exuded an air of dominance.

It is full of passion and gives people unlimited confidence.

Jack Bonaparte took a deep breath and said with a serious look:

"Your Excellency Duke Waldersee, I admit that what you said is true!"

"But if our Western coalition forces rashly land on the shore and encounter fierce resistance, it will be very disadvantageous to us!"

"The army of the Daqian Dynasty is not as vulnerable as imagined. They defeated the Hunter and Johnson coalitions and repelled the Japanese!"

"I still think that the best strategy is for us to move our position first and take over the Bay Island!"

Upon hearing this, Waldersee said disdainfully:

"Major General Jack Bonaparte, you have a narrow vision, or you are too cautious!"

"As an imperial soldier, you must stand higher to see farther."

"Even if the Daqian Dynasty's army resists, how much of a threat can it pose to us?"

"They don't have a complete industrial system, no fleet, and even their muskets and artillery were purchased from our Great Britain."

"Except for a newly emerged chivalrous group called 'Ximen Hall', which has some fighting power, their imperial army is simply vulnerable!"

"Ximen Hall is stationed in Shandong, thousands of kilometers away from here. Even if they want to provide support, it will take ten days. By then, we will have already taken over eastern Zhejiang."

Jack Bonaparte knew that he could not persuade Waldersee, so he smiled bitterly:

"The Daqian Dynasty is vast and populous. The geographical area and population of their entire country exceed the total of all European countries!"

"To be honest, I have a hunch that if we launch an attack on Daqian from eastern Zhejiang, we will likely suffer heavy losses!"

"My intuition has always been sharp. You should know that I have practiced the Bible prophecy technique!"

Upon hearing this, Waldersee laughed and said:

"Young man, don't trust your intuition too much!"

"In my eyes, population and geographical area are of no use. We have conquered India, the vaster African continent, and the Americas!"

"They have a large population, and the natives in many places are uncivilized savages!"

"Don't worry, our Western coalition will definitely take down the Daqian Dynasty this time!"

"We want to plunder their wealth and turn this place into a colony of Western countries."

"I want to plant the flag of the British Empire above the palace of the Daqian Dynasty!"

"This rich and vast eastern land will definitely belong to our Western countries!"

finished,

He drew the command knife from his waist, pointed in the direction of Ningbo in eastern Zhejiang, and said with great pride:

"The truth is always within the range of artillery! If you want to gain huge benefits, you must take risks!"

"Major General Jack Bonaparte, you are a rare talent in the French Empire!"

“If you lack the spirit of adventure, your achievements in life will be very limited!”

Upon hearing this, Jack Bonaparte stopped talking.

He laughed bitterly inwardly and shook his head helplessly.

He found that his ideas were completely different from those of Duke Waldersee, and serious differences arose.

Therefore,
He knew that if he continued the discussion with Waldersee, he would only end up in trouble.

but,

The sense of crisis in his heart became stronger and stronger.

Is it really dangerous to attack eastern Zhejiang of the Daqian Dynasty?
(End of this chapter)