"We are French warships. We will regard your actions as provocations... We will reserve the right to appeal... I repeat, you are provocative..."
The flags given by the French to the British battleships are all full of harshness, but it must be said in this kind of scene. This kind of forcefully breaking into one's own battle formation and destroying the formation is regarded as an extremely impolite provocation around the world. It is very easy for the gun to go off.
But the British warships were so arrogant. From beginning to end, in Xiao Letian's eyes, they looked like the U.S. military in later generations when they were kings and hegemons.
"I drove dangerously, I jumped into your queue, and I didn't listen to your warnings. If you have the ability, you can fire at me. I won't even open the cannon door, but I will show my face to you for you to hit. You It’s hard to fight or not, so don’t talk nonsense..."
"If there is a move, you can go, but if there is no move, you will die... I am so arrogant."
The above is the dialogue that Xiao Letian imagined. Of course the British Royal Navy would not say this. They would only do this and show it to you very arrogantly.
When the British frigate passed by the side of the Glorious ship, a rope ladder was thrown on the Glorious ship. The British captain and several officials climbed over dexterously. Xiao Letian knew that it was to send the retreat order to the French.
"Where is Mr. Molière, the French envoy, and Major General Bruce? We are entrusted by the French government to send documents signed by your king... please sign for them by the special envoy and the general."
"I'm sorry...the special envoy...the special envoy cannot come forward. I will go and invite the general."
"The special envoy cannot come forward. Why? He is the person in charge."
"Well..." The French officer blushed like a monkey buttocks and squirmed like a woman, "Special envoy... The special envoy was captured by Ryukyu..."
"Ah." Several British officers shouted, "You were defeated so miserably. We thought you were defeated by logistics, but you are really defeated miserably."
There was a loud roar and the whole deck was covered in red monkey butts. All the French soldiers were so ashamed that they wanted to jump into the sea and commit suicide. At this time, Major General Bruce finally came out, and the British officer changed the subject.
"Your Majesty General, this is the Emperor's document. Please check it..." When Bruce opened the folder and took a look, the expression on his face suddenly became distorted as if he was constipated.
Three seconds later, a wolf howl was uploaded from the Glory, which frightened Xiao Letian in the distance. "Damn, it's haunted in broad daylight. Didn't I just ask you to withdraw your troops? As for you..."
"Unconditional withdrawal, how could it be unconditional withdrawal? Your Majesty, France cannot bear such humiliation, how could it be unconditional withdrawal? You are lying to me..."
Crazy Bruce rushed forward and wanted to attack the British. The British officer must not be used to his bad habits. He easily dodged him and said with a sneer, "I'm sorry, you have seen clearly the authenticity of the document. Our British Navy has fulfilled its obligations." Okay... I would like to remind you one last time that your country is now facing very severe diplomatic pressure, and I hope you will calm down and exercise restraint..."
"Leave Ryukyu immediately and go to Hong Kong to rest for a while. Let the civil servants take care of the rest..." After saying this, several British officers turned around and left.
Xiao Letian was not in the mood to listen to Bruce and the others howling in mourning right now. Now the entire Ryukyu Island was waiting to greet him, and cheers like a tsunami were heard from the sea.
Xiao Letian and his officers held their heads high, ready to accept the pride they deserved, while the sailors from the Lion City were solemn and focused with bright eyes, feeling the vitality of the entire Ryukyu Kingdom.
"This is Ryukyu, the dull Ryukyu I visited five years ago. The Naha Port at that time always gave people a sense of twilight. I never thought it would be like this today..."
"This is the public sentiment encouraged by the Prime Minister. I thought that the celebrations in the Lion City were already lively, but compared with the momentum of Ryukyu, we were outclassed..."
"Look, there's the Shuri Fort on the top of the mountain. It's so big and powerful...it looks even more powerful than the forts built by the British..."
The 280-caliber coastal defense cannon is hovering on the cliff of Shuri Castle. As the cannon rotates, the entire Naha Bay is within the range of its fire control. It is precisely because of the deterrence of this American-made cannon that This prevented the French fleet from approaching close range fire from beginning to end.
No matter when it comes, the most shocking thing is the big ships and cannons. The appearance of the Shuri Castle fort shocked not only the sailors in the Lion City, but also the European sailors on the two silver cargo ships.
"Oh my God, the caliber of the forts controlling the Strait of Gibraltar is probably only this big. Is this still the barbaric East Asia we remember? It would be unjust for the French to lose to this one cannon."
The merchant sailors could only guess the power of the artillery from the size of the turret, but the officers on the two British warships were all experts, and they could guess right after taking a look with the telescope.
"Damn...it's a 280-caliber breech-loaded rifled gun with a range of at least 20 kilometers...Fortunately, there is only one. If there were one more to form a crossfire, the French fleet would be in trouble..."
"Record... the intelligence officer immediately recorded... Xiao Letian is not only a top politician, he is also a very good military equipment expert... We in the UK are reluctant to use such a good cannon, but Xiao Letian is willing to use it. He is How rich he is."
The officer was right. There were not many varieties of special steel in the 19th century, and the steel used to make the bores of rifled guns was far from as good as that of later generations.
The principle of a rifled gun is that there are spiral raised riflings on the inner wall of the barrel. When the cannonball is pushed forward by the gunpowder, the raised riflings are thinly cut into the outer shell of the cannonball like a lathe.
Although it is a very thin layer, it can still give the cannonball a rotational force. After the cannonball comes out of the cannon, the original direct force becomes a rotational force, allowing the cannonball to fly farther and hit more accurately. .
Rifled guns have many advantages, but they also have weaknesses, that is, if the quality of the rifling steel is not good, the raised rifling can be easily ground flat. This is a big problem that troubles European engineers today.
Although the Shuri Castle Fort is powerful, according to European experience, after firing more than a hundred rounds, the rifling will generally show wear and tear. After two hundred rounds, the accuracy of the cannonball will be much worse. If it is close to If it reaches 300 points, then the only option is to replace the barrel.
"Oh my God, it costs fifty or sixty thousand pounds to replace this barrel. Xiao Letian is really rich, he is so rich... The intelligence officer took note that Xiao Letian is a rich man, a big rich man..."
Xiao Letian didn't know that the British were plotting against him. His whole mood had been ignited by the city's fanaticism. The ship had entered Naha Bay, the salute from the Qixing Mountain fort had sounded, and the people's fanatical roars were heard in the mountains. There was a huge echo.
"Prime Minister... Prime Minister... Prime Minister..." This was the only sentence in everyone's mouth. Their Prime Minister finally came back from Europe, and he came back with victory, a wild victory that shocked the whole of Asia.
"Everyone... stands at attention and salutes." A roar came from the pier. Thousands of outstanding new officers and soldiers stood at attention and saluted. The sound of their big leather boots hitting the stone slabs was deafening.
When Xiao Letian saw the familiar blue military uniforms and the haggard faces, his eye sockets suddenly felt hot and he almost shed tears.
"European Expeditionary Force...all...stand at attention and salute Ryukyu." With a bang, more than a hundred officers' leather boots hit the deck, and they performed a new military salute with their right hands. They were thanking the brothers who guarded the home, and they were thanking them for taking the risk.
Can't cry, I can't cry, countless people are reminding themselves, but people are so worthless sometimes, and they can't control their feelings when they get deep. All the officers, including Xiao Letian, burst into tears.
The ship was getting closer and closer, and the wharf trestle was right in front of us. All the docked merchant ships gave way. The largest waterway and the most spacious trestle could only be used by the most distinguished prime minister.
"Brothers... thank you... thank you for protecting our home. I, Xiao Letian, salute you." Xiao Letian burst into tears and leaned on the bow of the boat to shout to the brothers.
The New Army brothers on the dock could no longer control their emotions. The depression that had been suppressed for a long time suddenly burst out, and everyone cried.
"Prime Minister, you are finally back... This battle we fought was really miserable, so miserable..." Suddenly there was a loud cry on the pier.
The clipper boat slowly leaned on the trestle. The pedals were set up. Xiao Letian was the first to step off, followed closely by Xiao Hexin, Sima Yun, Luo Huo, Xiang Shaolong... everyone was familiar to them. The face appeared in front of people again.
"Old Xiao, what's wrong with your legs? Luo Huo, your face is also stained. Mr. Long, you still owe me a drink..." Familiar figures appeared in front of everyone, and all the familiar friends jumped. Say hello on your feet.
But when more than a hundred officers stood neatly on the pier and formed a small square formation, the whole city suddenly became quiet.
"What...what's going on? Why are so few people coming back? Oh, I know it was the Prime Minister who left the others in Europe, right? That's right, that's it..."
Kind-hearted people don't dare to think about that horrific reality. They desperately make excuses for themselves, but the tears in their eyes betray them.
Xiao Letian couldn't stand such grief and anger, and he suddenly shouted, "Fellow folks in Ryukyu, I, Xiao Letian, am incompetent... Three hundred people went to the European Expeditionary Force, and only a hundred people came back with injuries... The rest of the brothers have already been buried in other places..."
"I, Xiao Letian, am sorry to everyone... I'm sorry..." Xiao Letian took off his military cap and bowed ninety degrees. He bowed again and again to apologize to everyone present.
There was a bang on the pier, and countless people knelt down. Even King Shangtai at the front knelt down on one knee to Xiao Letian. "What crime did Shang father have? Shang father has merits and demerits. Shang father is proud of Europe. This is the billions of people in East Asia." Fortunately."
"Prime Minister, please accept my obeisance." King Shangtai knelt down on one knee, and other ministers and people also knelt down. Only the New Army could not kneel down. That was Xiao Letian's death order. Those in military uniforms did not kneel down.
In the autumn of 1866, Xiao Letian returned to Ryukyu. On that day, the sound of crying in Naha Bay was so loud that it could be heard within ten miles of sea.
