The sailors in the No. 4 turret of the Catherine the Great heard a loud bang, as if someone had hit it hard with a hammer.
Several lookouts on the rear bridge were startled by the huge vibration. At first, they were wondering why this salute was so noisy. Was it because there were too many propellant packs put in during loading?
But they soon discovered that some yellow or red "paint" was also splashed on the observation deck.
Since more than a hundred battleships and cruisers in the entire formation were firing, and each ship was hundreds of meters apart, most people did not notice the small movements of the Longshuo. Only a few people noticed the splashing debris falling into the sea. Splash.
After the twenty-one-gun salute was fired, the Tsarist Russian sailors who returned to the deck suddenly lost their previous smiles. They stared at the messy rear deck at a loss.
"What happened on the back deck?"
"Uh... Sir Captain, we were attacked by the Chinese!"
As the ship review came to an end, the Catherine the Great hoisted the K-shaped signal flag, requested communication, and began to signal the Longshuo.
On the way back to Portsmouth, the two battleships communicated in light language and accused each other.
After entering the berth, as soon as it stopped, a team of marines accompanying the Longshuo immediately boarded the deck to prepare. If Tsarist Russia came to retaliate, the marines would go to the dock to calm down the situation.
Lieutenant Colonel Valentin, the deputy captain of the Catherine the Great, gathered more than 300 sailors. They got off the ship with sticks, iron pipes, and wrenches and went straight to the Longshuo at the adjacent berth.
"You really dare to come to your door to argue?" The Marine Corps officer waved his hand and ordered: "Line up, carry the machine gun over and set it up!"
More than 200 sailors and more than 100 marines were waiting on the dock with clubs, and five Type 33 light machine guns were set up against piled wooden boxes and oil drums.
The Tsarist Russian sailors who came quickly were aggressive just now, but when they got closer, the black machine gun muzzles seemed to be a silent warning to shoot whoever dared to mess up.
Lieutenant Colonel Valentin's aura suddenly weakened by three points, and he secretly cursed these Khitans for daring to use machine guns to intimidate themselves.
"You dare to openly attack our ship during the ship review. This is contempt for the empire. We have already protested to your embassy. Now you despicable guys must apologize!"
Fu Di, the supervisor of the Longshuo, was always aloof and arrogant to everyone. After the translator beside him finished speaking, he casually replied: "You might as well explain why the chimney of your ship suddenly erupted. What about the black smoke, and coincidentally, it didn’t come out when there was no wind before, but it happened to come out after the wind picked up?”
Naturally, this kind of immoral thing cannot be admitted, so Valentin insisted that there was a problem with the boiler, "You misunderstood the situation, because the superheater and smoke box of one of our ship's boilers failed, so it inevitably happened. Incomplete combustion of heavy oil.”
"Is that so?" Fu Di said with a look of sudden realization, "Your ship just underwent modernization a few years ago, right? How could it have a malfunction during a grand ship review? Your country's technology seems not to be very good, and maintenance The maintenance is not in place and the quality is worrisome.”
"This is slander...Are you deliberately provoking?"
"Obviously not. I'm just discussing the matter."
The five machine guns on the opposite side made the furious Valentin quickly calm down. He said with a straight face: "On behalf of your Excellency, the captain, I request a formal apology from your ship and a compensation of 300,000 rubles."
Lin Xunzhen on the side laughed when he heard this and couldn't help but murmured: "Is the turret painted with gold paint? Or is the deck made of gold?"
Fu Di, who looked calm, replied seriously: "On behalf of this ship, I am also asking you to apologize. The value of the national flag and military flag cannot be measured in money. You must sincerely admit your mistake and apologize."
"This is impossible! Shameless, you sons of bitches!"
"You don't even dare to admit it. Who is shameless?"
"The whistling is so annoying." Lin Xunzhen patted the translator on the shoulder, and then said contemptuously: "Your ancestor is the bastard of a maidservant of a noble prince in the Golden Horde?"
Although Lin Xunzhen's mother is from Nagasaki, this does not prevent him from humiliating the other party without any psychological burden.
Because the attack power was too powerful, Valentin drew out his gun in anger, and hundreds of sailors behind him also stared angrily.
But then, five Type 33 light machine guns pointed their muzzles at him.
As a naval officer serving on a battleship, Valentin has not felt the power gap so clearly and intuitively for a long time. The M7933 Tokarev pistol in his hand is so weak in comparison.
The last time he had this feeling was when he was serving on a destroyer and comparing the destroyer's 102mm gun with the 305mm gun of the battleship anchored in the port.
After another quarrel and a stalemate for about half a quarter of an hour, Valentin, whose aura was getting weaker and weaker, shouted: "This is contempt for Russia and His Majesty the Tsar. Your emperor will not let you go!"
After saying these words, he took the more than 300 sailors and left in anger.
"The Western Yi are all the same. They know soldiers but not etiquette, and they eat hard food but not soft food." Fu Di said easily, then turned around and left, "Having hot pot tonight is a celebration."
At about the same time, London...
Wu Yuanqin and Qiao Liang had just returned to the Ritz Hotel when they received a call from the embassy.
After learning that the Tsarist Russian Embassy had issued a diplomatic protest to the Ming Dynasty Legation, they did not know why and hurriedly asked for details.
"Protest? Why is this? What is happening to the Russians?"
At this time, the summary report issued by the officers of the Longshuo after discussion was belatedly arrived.
The Catherine the Great in front deliberately adjusted the working condition of the boiler, causing the heavy oil to be incompletely burned to produce black smoke that smoked the Longshuo behind. As a result, the bridge glass was stained with oil, and the national flag and naval ensign were also contaminated.
So the guys on the Longshuo couldn't swallow this sigh of relief, so they all worked together to use dye bombs to mess up the opponent's rear deck?
After hearing the news, Wu Yuanqin looked gloomy and Qiao Liang couldn't laugh or cry.
The former shook his sleeves and said slightly angrily: "Children's tricks! They're just messing around on such occasions!"
"It's a done deal, it's useless to get angry." Qiao Liang, who was in a good state of mind, smiled, "At least he knew the rules, and there were no casualties."
Wu Yuanqin glared, "What if someone dies?"
In the opinion of the two imperial envoys, if the other party deliberately provokes trouble, they can just ignore it at the time and use the issue later.
Doing such immature things in diplomatic situations will only bring yourself to a disadvantage. The fact that the Russians dare to do such a thing mindlessly is really speechless.
"The Russians are confident, and perhaps they are taking the opportunity to show their goodwill to the British." Qiao Liang paced twice in place thoughtfully, "Didn't they unilaterally raise crude oil prices and add tariffs a few days ago? "
"That's right, we can't lose our status." Wu Yuanqin said solemnly: "From this point of view, although it is reckless to fight back on the spot, it is... nothing."
In the current situation, there might be a fight one day, so who cares about these trivial matters?
Qiao Liang said nonchalantly: "The Russian factions are also incessant, and the situation is chaotic. Last year, they suppressed the Kharkov parade, resulting in more than 400 casualties. If they continue to make such a fuss, there may be another mutiny or coup."
"The Tsar is extremely weak, and if such disputes continue, chaos will inevitably occur. The military department believes that the Russians may deliberately cause trouble to provoke disputes, and the Anxi frontier army is on alert to this day."
"In this situation, it depends on who loses his composure first. I wonder if the Russians have enough patience."
"Obviously, the most appropriate time is when our country is attacking the southern lands." Wu Yuanqin looked out the window with doubts on his face, "It is better to induce the Russians to focus their energy on other places. The short-term value of Central Asia is more cost-effective. "
The revolution that broke out in Petrograd twenty years ago was extremely complicated. As a typical feudal empire, Tsarist Russia had sharp and complex internal conflicts, with uprisings, riots, demonstrations, and struggles happening continuously.
This event that determined the fate of Russia was full of ups and downs, roughly similar to that in history but with key differences.
The front-line meat grinder of the European War swallowed up countless conscripted soldiers, and many workers also turned into gray animals and died on the battlefield. There are many handicraft workers and small business owners mixed into the ranks of the proletariat, and naturally their thoughts and positions are not firm enough.
At the same time, a large number of the petty bourgeoisie who participated in the revolution showed obvious uneasiness and vacillation, which is a typical "weakness".
The Tsarist Russian bourgeoisie is inextricably linked to the feudal forces. Most of them are actually royalists. They only ask for the establishment of a constitution to protect their own interests and share the original supreme power. They do not pursue fundamental disintegration. monarchy.
More importantly, in the late spring and early summer of Qiyuan 7917, a certain lawyer failed to enter the country and had to return, which made the leadership of the workers even weaker.
As a result, various factors led to their eventual defeat in the struggle, a frenzied counterattack, and defeat.
However, the Russians ultimately did not welcome back Nicholas, who had disappointed them, but chose to support Alexei, who was only thirteen years old at the time. Obviously, the young Tsar was easier to control.
In order to consolidate the hard-won fruits of victory, the Russian bourgeoisie almost completely restricted the real power of the Tsar, and the remaining symbolic power was at the same level as the British King.
What’s interesting is that today, twenty years later, some Tsarist Russian politicians and parties express regret and feel that they were a little timid back then.
Now that we have reached that point, we can try to establish a bourgeois republic in one step.
"They are just a mediocre father and son in name only."
Zhu Shiyan had a very low opinion of Nikolai and Alexei. As the saying goes, "whether they are good or bad depends entirely on their peers." He believed that his political skills were much better than those of the tsar and his son. This was also his rare self-esteem. The place of pride.
"This action is very abrupt and harmful to the country's face." However, Zhu Shiyan thought about it again and realized that this seemed to be in line with the Russian's rough-and-tumble style of acting?
The Longshuo's last-minute decision made him a little worried. There is no need to talk about anger. How can the two military and national flags on the most important weapon of the country be allowed to be violated?
It's just that the behavior of these young and middle-aged officers is really puzzling - say they were measured, they fired at each other with naval guns; say they were irrational, they fired dye bombs when there was no one on the deck.
This kind of fearless arrogance, or even arrogance, did not look good to the emperor. Young people with high arrogance would not only make mistakes, but also be easily deceived and instigated.
"This matter should be handled in a low-key manner, without any cover-up or publicity." He hesitated slightly and ordered: "The officers who discussed and decided to act... give them a verbal reprimand."
Failure to punish is encouraging arrogance, but severe punishment will cause dissatisfaction. It can be said to be a dilemma.
The value of the military's existence is nothing more than defending the country and expanding territory, and it is human nature to desire to prove its own value.
Recently, someone in the military department has put the war plan against Japan back on the table, claiming that now is a rare opportunity.
This proposal may not be to the liking of some people who are eager for quick success, but in the eyes of the emperor, it is safer.
Japan, which is fragmented and divided into vassal towns, has been heavily infiltrated by foreign powers. Many vassal towns on Honshu Island are supported by Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Russia. A few vassal towns can only choose to stick together for warmth to barely maintain their independence.
Regardless of politics, and purely from a military perspective, the military believes that the Japanese Islands must be held in hand as a peripheral position to defend the Ming Dynasty, and their strategic value is unparalleled.
At the same time, the naval base and air force base located there can significantly expand the Ming Dynasty's force projection range.
This view is very attractive to most people, so the argument of sending troops to quell the Japanese has been enduring for decades.
However, the opponents believed that maintaining the status quo was actually good. The entire Japanese state was a buffer zone between the Chinese Empire and Western forces. Both sides only needed to instruct the vassal towns they supported to compete with each other.
This saves you the trouble of doing it yourself, which is very cost-effective in the long run and can save a lot of money and energy.
In such a context where many parties held their own opinions, the emperor's thoughts were more focused on political considerations.
Serving an appetizer before the real war can calm the restless mood of many people and test the strength of the army.
The nobles and big entrepreneurs are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to make a fortune. Obviously, it is impossible for a mere Japanese country to satisfy their appetite, but at least they can temporarily curb their eagerness, so that they can wait patiently for the most suitable one. The opportunity will come again to Nanyang.
Otherwise, you may be unable to hold on until the opportunity arrives.
Militarily, we should build the Japanese Islands into a forward position that can be attacked and defended, and monitor and defend the entire North Pacific region, so that we can be more confident and bold when attacking the Nanyang region in the future.
As for diplomatic concerns, they are secondary. It is inevitable that the Japanese country will be enveloped by the Ming Dynasty's sphere of influence. It will be a matter of time for the Western forces to expel them there. Countries have already made such preparations. Now they just wait for one more day. one day.
As for sending troops, Ming Dynasty had already started preparing for war since last year. Although it was only a very basic preparation, it was much better than rushing to war.
After careful consideration, the emperor believed that this proposal was feasible to a certain extent, so he notified the cabinet and requested that a high-level meeting be held on the matter to discuss it together with the military department, rather than just the civilian officials pondering it themselves.
(End of chapter)
