On November 10, 1789, after two days of day and night sailing, the Thunderbolt arrived outside Port Arthur. Seeing Zhao Xin appear on the deck waving his arms, bursts of cheers erupted from the Thor and Beihai 2.
The main reason for arriving so smoothly is that the storm in the Tsushima Strait for days has subsided, and the sailors on the Thundering Thunder are very familiar with the operation of the entire ship after several years of training.
As the hoisting of supplies began, Deng Fei, Ding Guofeng, Guo Xuexian, Jiang Fan, Hong Liangji and others also boarded the Thunder in speedboats. The first thing that caught their eyes was Zhao Xin with A Miao standing beside him.
Deng Fei asked in surprise: "Why are you here? It wasn't mentioned in the telegram before!"
Before Zhao Xin could answer, Guo Xuexian, Jiang Fan, and Hong Liangji who were standing nearby came up to see him. Zhao Xin first returned a military salute, then patted Guo Xuexian on the shoulder and said, "My dear, I've heard all about it. You did a good job this time!"
"It's all what the leaders taught me, I just followed it."
Guo Xuexian was very excited to see Zhao Xin. He had rarely seen Zhao Xin in the past two years, but he always kept in mind that if Zhao Xin and Zheng Lianchang hadn't asked him by name, he didn't know what he would have done. Although he never understood how the other party knew about him, without Zhao Xin, he would not be where he is today.
Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji stepped forward to persuade him: "How can King Zhao come to the dangerous place in person? Although the Tartar ship has been driven away, the sea is unstable and the war is dangerous!"
Zhao Xin chuckled and said, "You two, of course I have to be a part of such an interesting thing."
After that, he casually pointed to the four D30s on the Thunder, the dozens of machine guns on the side of the ship, and the soldiers of the Second Regiment who were busy on the deck, and continued: "With these, the North Korean Navy can even attack the city of Beijing."
When Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji heard this, their eyes suddenly lit up, thinking that Zhao Xin was going to lead troops to attack the capital this time.
Deng Fei's expression changed after hearing this, and he immediately pulled Zhao Xin to a deserted place on the other side of the ship, and whispered: "Are you planning to imitate the Second Opium War, and attack Tianjin to force the Manchus to sign a treaty?"
"It's not that serious." Zhao Xin shook his head and explained: "We need people, a lot of people. Didn't you say in the telegram that there will be floods in Zhili. Furthermore, the output of refugees in Nanba Laolin is too slow. "
Deng Fei nodded as if he suddenly understood, looked into Zhao Xin's eyes and said, "I feel relieved now."
Zhao Xin patted the other party's shoulder and sighed. He knew what Deng Fei was worried about. There is no need to repeat that humiliating history. Nothing can be solved except to satisfy some dark pleasure.
He said to Deng Fei: "I will hide behind this time, and you will come forward to negotiate when the time comes."
Deng Fei teased: "Are you planning to play dirty again?"
After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed.
"By the way," Deng Fei suddenly remembered something and said to Zhao Xin: "The drone discovered a foreigner on the Manchu sailing ship."
Zhao Xin asked curiously: "British or French?"
"How can I tell this? They all look the same, wearing three-cornered hats." Deng Fei said, raising his finger and pointing to Port Arthur not far away: "This place is very important, do we want to occupy it?"
Zhao Xin smiled and said: "Do you really want to insert a knife into Qianlong's chest? One more thing is worse than one less thing. If we occupy this place, I think the Qing court will have to fight with us. Give them a breath first and take it step by step. .”
In his phone call with Yu Deli and Chen Qingsong before coming, he made it very clear that Beihai Town's current opponents include Tsarist Russia and the Manchu Qing Dynasty; but in terms of priority, the main conflict with Tsarist Russia is now, followed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Two days later, three ships of various sizes appeared on the sea outside the mouth of Dagu, immediately surprising the Qing fleet and the British who had just escaped.
From Marcane, John Jervis, Horatio Nelson to all the British sailors, they all crowded on the deck, observing with monocular telescopes, and the shock on their faces could not be concealed.
When they saw the Thunder, which was more than twice as big as the Thunder God, Navy Admiral Hadang'a and all the water camp generals were so frightened that they almost peeed. They shuddered and their whole bodies trembled.
At this time, the three ships of the Northern Navy were almost five nautical miles away from the anchorage of the Qing fleet. However, there was a sudden roar from the Thunderbolt, and a shell passed over the Qing fleet and hit the beach on the north side of the Dagukou fort. After a smoke column several meters high was raised, everyone's expressions became extremely ugly.
Hardanga peed immediately, knelt down on the deck, kowtowed in the direction of the capital, and cried: "Your Majesty, this slave has betrayed the divine grace! This slave is guilty of death! This slave is guilty of death!"
At the Dagukou fort, the Qing army saw two large ships like mountains in the distance. First, they immediately raised smoke, and then ordered Pegasus to report to the imperial envoy at Haiguang Temple. At the same time, all surrounding forts began to be on full alert.
After hearing the news, Fu Changan was completely stunned. He sat blankly on the chair with eyes wide open and remained silent for a long time. He had secretly laughed at Fukangan before, but today it was finally his turn.
This is really like being injured by a tiger instead of beating it, stealing a chicken but losing a lot of rice! Your Majesty, we have stung a hornet's nest!
At this time, an official next to him said: "Commander? Commander?"
"Ah~~~!!" Fu Changan couldn't help but let out a desperate cry, which immediately startled everyone in the imperial envoy's camp.
"Commander, for this plan, we must quickly send an urgent report to the capital. The emperor's safety is the most important!"
After hearing what the official said, Fu Changan felt excited all over and said hurriedly: "Quick! I'll be waiting for you with pen and ink!"
"Commander, wait a minute." In the imperial envoy's office, a sixth-grade official in his forties with a fat face walked up to the commander's case, cupped his hands and said, "I'm a little short-sighted."
Fu Changan was anxious and angry: "When did this happen! Stop hesitating!"
The official's surname was Cai. He had been working as the sixth-rank chief of the Qing Li Department of the Ministry of War and was responsible for the maritime ban. Because of his diligent work, Fu Changan was transferred to his side to handle errands this time.
Director Cai said in a deep voice: "Commander, I have accompanied you to inspect the coastal defenses in the Dagukou area a few days ago. Although the Haikou is one hundred and fifty feet wide and the water is five feet deep, the water channel is narrow and winding. There are so many that even the huge ship newly purchased by the imperial court has a hard time getting in, let alone Zhao Ni’s big iron ship.”
"Huh?" After the initial panic, Fu Chang'an also calmed down a little. Hearing this, he said: "Brother, what can you teach me? If we can resist the enemy in the open sea, I will definitely tell the emperor to take credit."
Chief Cai said: "Commander, for the current plan, the first thing is to prevent Zhao Ni's ships from entering the seaport and forcing Tianjin to invade. The lower official believes that the first step is to strictly inspect the fishing boats near Dagukou and number them one by one for the purpose of correction. . Secondly, the two large mouths of Daku and Beitang, as well as the remaining small mouths in the surrounding areas, were located in shallow water and blocked with wooden piles, leaving only a way for a sand boat to pass."
After hearing this, Fu Changan nodded repeatedly, then took out an arrow from the lottery tube and said to Chief Cai: "I will leave this matter to you. Anyone who obstructs or delays will be regarded as a crime of banditry and treason and can be killed immediately." !”
"I will obey the Commander-in-Chief's order!"
At this time, other people in the commander's tent also reacted. Some said that the governors of Zhengding, Hejian and Zhili would be stationed at the river mouths. Some said that Tianjin City should be put under martial law, and some said that the people along the coast of Dagu should be evacuated. of.
Fu Chang'an accepted all of this. After all the arrangements were made, he took up his pen, considered the words, and began to write an urgent report to Qianlong.
Compared with the panic of the Manchus, the British officers on the six sailing ships wanted to contact the Northern Navy, but this move was opposed by Macartney.
"Gentlemen! Please don't forget that you are now training personnel of the Qing Empire Navy, and those people opposite are a group of rebels! Although I am also very interested in them, at the risk of breaking with the Qing Empire, Private contact will cause serious damage to the interests of the British Empire and the East India Company in China!"
Macartney did not want the door that the Qing Dynasty had just opened to him to close. Compared with contacting the distant and unfamiliar town of Beihai, expanding trade exports to China was obviously more important.
From the results of this naval battle, it can be clearly seen that the five second-level sailing battleships are only a drop in the bucket for the Qing Empire. Macartney hoped that through this incident, the Manchu Qing would purchase more sailing ships from Britain. What a huge arms trade this would be!
With the introduction of a large number of new warships and artillery, corresponding supporting shipyards, port construction, steel plants, and artillery factories are bound to spring up along the coast of the Qing Empire. This will undoubtedly show a greater trade prospect and reverse the East India Company's long-term trade deficit with China in one fell swoop.
Currently, the only European country that can compete with Britain in its relations with China is France. Before Macartney came to China, he knew that there were several French missionaries in the emperor's court.
At present, France's political situation is unstable, its finances are tight, and it has no time to go east. The East India Company must take advantage of this opportunity to expand trade with China.
However, these British people in the East did not know that the "French Revolution" had broken out in July. Even if the French wanted to cooperate militarily with the Qing, they were unable to do so at the moment.
After experiencing a farce-like "Storming of the Bastille", the Constituent Assembly, which received a large amount of weapons and ammunition, was strong and powerful. Louis XVI moved his family into the Tuileries Palace, which was akin to house arrest. At this time, there are still two years and three months before they go to the guillotine.
But just as the British looked curiously and the Qing army was busy evacuating the people near Dagukou and stepping up war preparations, the drone appeared again that confused everyone in this time and space.
At this time, the sky was clear and clear outside Dagu Pass. Although the howling north wind made the sea not calm, several monsters obviously larger than seabirds suddenly appeared in the sky, which quickly attracted the attention of the Qing fleet.
Horatio Nelson raised his telescope and looked into the sky, and after a while he said in shock: "This, this is not a hot air balloon!"
While everyone on the deck was stunned, a drone hovered in the air more than 20 meters away from the "Zhenbei". Those holding monocular telescopes saw a black figure below the "monster" It's like a mirror, and there seems to be a red dot flashing inside.
A British officer estimated the distance and silently raised his musket. Just as he was about to take aim, his shoulders sank slightly. When he turned around to look, he saw that the sharp blade was already on his neck.
The one holding the knife was a Qing army co-leader, who was glaring at him and yelling: "What are you going to do? What is the purpose of provoking a gun and starting a fight without permission?!"
Everyone on the boat saw the cannon fired just now. The big ship in the North Sea could hit the shore even though it was so far away. Now it seems that this "strange bird" was obviously released from the big ship. If we really want to defeat him, we will make the other side anxious and no one can escape.
Horatio Nelson saw this and quickly came over to apologize to the assistant leader. On the "Dinghai", Hadang'a ordered the commander to send signals to all ships not to fire on the "strange birds" in the air, so as not to anger the Northern Navy.
So one drone circled back and forth over the fleet, while the other headed straight for the Dagukou Fort. When Zhao Xin and others on the Thunderbolt saw the huge cannons on the north and south forts displayed on the screen, they were all amazed.
"Good guy! This must be 10,000 pounds, right?"
"It looks like more than that."
"How far do you think this cannon can hit? Two kilometers? Three kilometers?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "I can't tell, I have no idea about this thing. I estimate that if it is raised to 45 degrees, it can hit more than ten miles."
Deng Fei sighed: "Qianlong really spent a lot of money."
"At the doorstep."
Deng Fei asked curiously: "Hey, do you think Qianlong will go to the Summer Resort this time?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said, "That's something only his great-grandson would do. Daoguang didn't even run away, and Qianlong wouldn't run away either."
Late that night, a galloping horse from Tianjin was galloping. When the rider arrived outside the gate of the Old Summer Palace, he was out of breath from exhaustion, and even the horse was foaming at the mouth.
The firearms battalion soldier on duty saw the memorial box wrapped in yellow satin on the other party and hurriedly came to help him. The rider gasped: "Military report! Urgent!"
Not long after, the messenger was sent to the military aircraft Zhang Jing's outer duty house in the Jiatun camp in the garden. Zhang Jing, the man in charge of the military aircraft department who was responsible for the night watch, was frightened out of his wits after hearing the rider's report, and quickly sent someone to invite He Shen and He Shen. Liu Yong et al.
During the Qianlong period, the Military Aircraft Department had two offices in the Old Summer Palace, one was Guajiatun, and the other was Bingjiao Uphill. There were more than 100 houses in total, and Manchus, Han and Zhangjing lived respectively. After Qianlong moved to the Old Summer Palace these days, He Shen, Wang Jie, Liu Yong and others all moved in here so that they could be at their call at any time.
Liu Yong was a light sleeper, and he woke up as soon as Zhang Jing, who was on duty at night, knocked on the door. Then I looked at the clock on the desk in the light of the lantern outside. It was just past three in the morning.
He put on his python robe, walked to the door and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Master Liu, it's bad! Zhao Ni's ship has reached Tianjin!"
"What!" Liu Yong's eyes went straight, and he suddenly lost all sleep. He hurriedly opened the door and greeted his servants to help him wash and dress. While the servants at home were helping him get dressed, Liu Yong thought to himself, stop talking, those five gunboats must have been defeated, but he didn't know what the loss would be.
The biggest crisis now is that there are not many soldiers in Tianjin city, only more than 400 people in total. If Zhao Ni breaks through Dagokou and invades Tianjin, the city will not be able to be defended, and I don't know how Fu Chang'an will respond.
Half an hour later, Prince Jia Yong Yan, He Shen, Wang Jie and Liu Yong all rushed to the duty room of the Military Aircraft Department to meet. Everyone's expressions were gloomy. Yong Yan remained silent and made a fist with his right hand, cracking the joints. He Shen frowned and tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers. Wang Jie and Liu Yong looked at each other, lowered their heads and said nothing. Thinking about what to say when meeting the Holy Spirit.
About a quarter of an hour later, the eunuch who delivered the order arrived, and Qianlong summoned everyone to meet him at the Qingyan Palace in Jiuzhou.
"Jiuzhou Qingyan" is located directly north of Zhengda Guangming Hall and in the middle of the north bank of Qianhu Lake. There are a total of nine courtyards on the island from west to east, and five palaces from south to north, which means "nine-five nobles"; and Qianlong's palace is the innermost Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall.
Everyone followed the eunuch through various corridors and stone bridges, and arrived at the gate of the Old Summer Palace, which was already brightly lit. When he reached the entrance of Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall at the back, the seventy-eight-year-old Qianlong was already sitting on the Xumizuo in the hall.
The ministers, headed by Yong Yan, bowed their heads after entering the palace and flicked the horse-hoove sleeves on their python robes. They all knelt down and kowtowed: "Minions (ministers) pay your respects to the emperor!"
The old Qianlong didn't speak for a long time. After a while, everyone heard him say in a hoarse voice: "Get up."
At this time, everyone looked up slightly and saw Qianlong holding Fu Changan's urgent memorial in his hand, with a haggard face. At this time, everyone knelt down again and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please take care of the dragon body! There are countless mistakes, all due to the incompetence of the servants."
"Let's take a look and see how we should deal with the current situation." After Qianlong said this, he handed Fu Chang'an's book to the eunuch for circulation among the ministers. After everyone read it one by one, they knew the details of what happened outside Daku and Fu Changan's response measures, and everyone suddenly became worried.
Yong Yan knelt on the ground and replied: "I think we should immediately mobilize troops and horses from Hejian, Zhengding, and Daming to go to Tianjin to prepare for war, and mobilize troops and horses from Xuanda, Huailai, and Zhangjiakou to come to Beijing to serve the king."
Qianlong nodded and said, "Is there anything else?"
He Shen said: "I think that I should send someone to meet with Zhao Ni's troops first to find out what their purpose is. If they are planning to plot Tianjin and threaten the capital, they will have to fight to the death to capture the enemy at sea. If it is because of other reasons... ....”
Wang Jie said: "He Zhongtang and Zhao Ni's ships have all reached Tianjin, what other reason could there be?"
He Shen said: "Have you forgotten, Mr. Wang? The urgent report sent from Xiongyue Town said that Zhao Ni's ship was forcibly selling soybeans in Fuzhou..."
When everyone in the hall heard this, they thought to themselves: Oh! How could you forget this?
Could it be that the emperor sent a ship to attack, disrupting Zhao Ni's purchase of soybeans, and irritating Zhao Ni, who sent troops to Tianjin?
The problem is that no one dares to say this, because the order to send the fleet to attack was given by Qianlong himself.
Wang Jie added: "He Zhongtang, Zhao Ni is a traitor to the imperial court. We, the Qing Dynasty, are incompatible with them. How can we break up with them?"
He Shen ignored Wang Jie, but kowtowed to Qianlong and said: "Your Majesty, there are Englishmen on the gunboat right now. Why don't we let them help test it out? We can send people to accompany them in disguise to detect the movements of the thieves. It would be easier to do." Respond."
Qianlong's eyes lit up slightly after hearing this. He Shen's suggestion was still feasible, so he nodded and said: "In this case, I will tell Fu Chang'an to let the British negotiate with the other party on their behalf."
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