Ding Ruchang nodded when he heard Liu Hai's question, and then said: "The Governor ordered us to rendezvous with the Nanyang Navy, and then wait for the right moment to fight the Japanese Combined Fleet."
After listening to this, Liu Hai felt that this suggestion was just what he wanted. Then he thought about it and then said: "According to the current situation, the Japanese fleet will not fight us decisively, so we have to force it."
them."
"Then what does Admiral Liu mean?"
"What I mean is that we should follow the Japanese fleet to Ryukyu. When we get there, we must ask the Japanese government to return Ryukyu and compensate for the losses. At this time, the Japanese government will have no choice but to stop fighting."
Ding Ruchang thought about it for a moment. If he were the Emperor of Japan and was forced to the doorstep of his house, demanding compensation and ceding territory, and he looked down on the Qing people, he would probably not be able to stop fighting.
"Brother Liu is indeed very resourceful, let's do this."
Ding Ruchang fully approved of Liu Hai's method.
Then Ding Ruchang asked again: "Our two fleets with dozens of capital ships, plus 7 or 8 transport ships are too powerful. If there is no unified command, I am afraid there will be chaos. I don't know what Brother Liu thinks."
Liu Hai kept nodding after listening. Now that the two fleets are mixed together, if they fight separately, not only will they not be able to form a joint force, they will even hinder each other. In the end, the enemy will take advantage of the loopholes.
Ding Ruchang saw Liu Hai nodding his head, but then he didn't say anything, because this had touched on the core issue of the South and the North.
As the cabin fell into silence, both of them wanted the other to give in, but as time passed, neither of them had the intention to give in.
Finally, Liu Hai thought about it, and in order to take the overall situation into consideration, he had no choice but to give in. As long as Ding Ruchang did not do anything to harm the Nanyang Navy, what would happen if he obeyed his orders?
Once Ding Ruchang gave random orders and sent the Nanyang Navy to die, he could immediately order the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy to disengage.
So Liu Hai broke the silence first, "Admiral Ding is highly respected. This time when the two armies meet, Admiral Ding will serve as the commander of the combined fleet. I will assist you. I wonder what Admiral Ding wants?"
Ding Ruchang finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then he said with a smile: "Since Brother Liu is so polite, then I will do my duty as a brother."
The two sides then discussed the details of the joint operation. For example, how should the four giant ships be arranged?
Ding Ruchang directly ordered the four giant ships of the combined fleet to gather together, and then headed straight for Ryukyu under the escort of cruisers.
Liu Hai had no objection to this. The four giant ships joining together would be more conducive to forming a firepower advantage.
So after discussing it, Liu Hai left the Dingyuan ship and returned to the Jiangxi ironclad.
After Liu Hai reported the results of his discussion with Ding Ruchang to the Nanyang Navy, the cruiser Jiangxi and the armored cruiser Jiangsu slowly moved forward to approach the Dingyuan and Zengyuan ships, and then formed a combat force.
And this was with the Dingyuan ship as its flagship. When Ding Rucheng saw Liu Hai approaching with the warship, he nodded with satisfaction, thinking that Liu Hai still had the overall situation in mind.
Next, this huge fleet sailed slowly towards Ryukyu. However, due to the slow speed of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships, the speed of the entire warship was delayed. Originally, they could still see the Japanese fleet, but the speed of the ship was slow.
After half a day, the Japanese fleet also disappeared into the ocean.
But Ding Ruchang was not panicked at all. He calmly ordered all the fleets on the Dingyuan ship to ignore the Japanese fleet, and the entire fleet went straight to Naha Port in Japan.
Togo Heihachiro in the Japanese fleet did not stop moving forward when he saw the southern and northern oceans converging, but followed slowly behind him, knowing that something was not good.
Togo Heihachiro saw that Kiyokuni meant that he was not prepared to end the conflict just like that. They wanted to go north, and their purpose was either to go to Ryukyu or to visit Japan. This was a big deal.
So Togo Heibarō ordered the Japanese fleet to speed up and break away from contact with the Qing fleet.
In this way, Togo Heihachiro led the Japanese navy to quickly sail towards Ryukyu. Relying on their familiarity with the waterways and without the drag of ironclad ships, they arrived at Naha Port in Ryukyu ahead of schedule.
After Togo Heihachiro's fleet arrived at Naha Port, he didn't hesitate at all. He immediately threw away the other officers and quickly went ashore alone. Then he went directly to the telegraph office at Naha Port to report to Tokyo that the Qing joint fleet had moved north.
, whereabouts unknown.
When the Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Matsukata in Tokyo received the report from Togo Heihachiro, he was shocked. If the Qing fleet went north, its purpose would not be the small Diaoyutai.
So he didn't have time to convene a cabinet meeting, so he quickly sent a telegram to the Qing capital, ordering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' legation in the Qing Dynasty to protest to the Qing government and demand that the Qing fleet turn around immediately.
At the same time, Masayoshi Matsukata was afraid that the protest would have no effect, so he personally drove to the British Embassy in Japan.
Royce Moray, the minister of the British Embassy in Japan, was a little confused about the Japanese Prime Minister's visit. He had not yet received news of the confrontation between the Qing fleet and the Japanese fleet at sea.
Royce Mari personally came to the door of the embassy to greet Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Matsukata.
The two parties exchanged a few polite words at the entrance of the embassy, and finally entered the interior of the embassy, and then took their seats in the small living room of the embassy.
Then the servants of the legation served black tea to the two of them.
Royce Mari picked up a cup of black tea and took a sip, and then asked: "Mr. Prime Minister, is there anything you want to do when you come to our embassy this time?"
Masayoshi Matsukata was silent for a moment, and then he showed a flattering expression, "Royce is so clever and clever, nothing in the world can be hidden from you."
Although Royce Mari was a little happy to be praised by the other party, he really didn't know why the other party came this time and asked: "Mr. Prime Minister, let's get straight to the point. When you come this time, do you think that we, the British, will order something?"
Build warships?”
"Mr. Ambassador, you misunderstood. You came to the embassy this time because there were some frictions between the Empire of Japan and the Qing Dynasty on the sea. The two sides were somewhat unhappy, so the Empire of Japan wanted to ask the British Empire to mediate the dispute between the two countries."
Royce Mari was also a little stunned when he heard this. He did not expect that the Japanese Empire would dare to challenge the largest power in East Asia at this time.
"Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect, the Japanese Empire simply cannot compete with the Qing Dynasty with its strength."
This ambassador, however, knows very well that the Qing Dynasty now has two major fleets in the Northern and Southern Oceans. If any one of these two fleets is pulled out, it will be among the top ten in the world.
"Mr. Da Shi misunderstood. How dare our country challenge the Qing Dynasty? The cause and effect of this time is that the Qing Dynasty coveted our country's land and forcibly sent troops to occupy an island. Our fleet went to intervene. As a result, the two fleets of the Qing Dynasty in the South and North Ocean were dispatched together.
It has driven away our fleet and is now approaching our coastline."
After hearing this, Royce Mari was shocked that the power of the Qing Dynasty, which had just begun to improve, had expanded so much and now began to expand its territory in East Asia.
However, he could not listen to one side of the story, and could only say vaguely: "Mr. Prime Minister, if you want to mediate the dispute between your country and the Qing Dynasty, you must get the approval of the cabinet. Please go back first. After I report to the cabinet, if there is anything
We will notify you of any new situation immediately."
Having achieved his goal, Matsukata Masayoshi no longer pressed, stood up and bowed deeply to the other party, then said goodbye and left the British Consulate.
After the Japanese Prime Minister left, Royce Moray immediately sent a telegram to the UK to inform the UK of the maritime friction between Japan and the Qing Dynasty in East Asia.
After the British received the news, considering that the Qing Dynasty and Japan were both countries with relatively close relations with Britain, and Britain had great interests in both countries, they did not want a conflict between the two countries.
Therefore, the British government immediately issued an order to the British Legation in the Qing Dynasty, asking it to immediately learn about the situation from the Qing government, and if necessary, immediately activate the adjustment mechanism to ensure that there would be no war between the two countries.
After receiving the order from the capital, Sir Walter Watson, the British Minister to China, immediately got up and went to the Prime Minister's Office.
In these years, the Prime Minister's Office was controlled by Wang Yikuang of Qingjun. After receiving a report from his subordinates, the British Minister to China, Sir Sir Watson, asked to see him.
When Wang Yikuang of Qing County heard the news, he felt a little trembling in his heart. You must know that the British Minister to China would not come to the Prime Minister's Yamen in person unless there was a major incident.
But an ugly daughter-in-law always has to meet her parents-in-law. Although Prince Yikuang of Qing County did not like to see these foreigners, he still ordered his minister to China, Sir Walter Walson, to be invited to the flower hall.
Prince Yikuang of Qing County had been waiting for the minister to China at the entrance of the flower hall early. As soon as he saw that the envoy had come over, he immediately stepped forward with a smile and cupped his hands and said, "I hope you will not be offended if you miss me from afar."
Sir Walter also imitated Prince Qing Yikuang. He bowed his hand to him, and then said in a strange foreign accent: "Mr. Prince, you are too polite."
Then King Yikuang of Qingjun welcomed Sir Hual Shen into the flower hall.
After the two sat down, Sir Walter said: "To be honest, I came here with a domestic order to mediate the maritime conflict between your country and Japan."
Prince Yikuang of Qing County was stunned when he heard this. He had some status in the court, but he had never heard of a maritime conflict between the Qing Dynasty and Japan.
When Sir Walter saw the other party standing there stunned, he thought he was pretending to be dumbfounded. However, he also understood the other party's mood. Originally, their country had an absolute advantage and would soon be able to make the other party cede territory and pay compensation, but now if the British intervene
, the Qing Dynasty would lose a lot of fat, no wonder the other party would pretend to be stupid.