After receiving these cannonballs, Liu Hai finally felt relieved. His warships now no longer had to worry about having no cannonballs to use.
Moreover, Liu Hai also had an idea, which was to seal up all the old artillery shells on all warships after returning as backup, and use this batch of artillery shells purchased from Hyundai as the main product, so as to give the Japanese a big surprise.
After Liu Hai was satisfied, he put forward another opinion to Zhang Tao, "Brother Zhang, I heard that we decommissioned several 051 destroyers a few days ago. These destroyers are pretty good, right? Can they go to sea to fight?"
When Zhang Tao heard Liu Hai's inquiry, he was confused at first, but soon he understood that Liu Hai was targeting these warships.
"What do you mean?"
Liu Hai quickly took out the cigarette from his arms, handed it to Zhang Tao himself, and then lit it for him with a lighter.
"Brother Zhang, these warships are useless, why not sell them to me?"
Zhang Tao frowned a little after hearing this. Although these warships are already backward for modern times, they have been modernized and modified and have strong air defense, anti-submarine, and anti-ship combat capabilities. Whether they can be sold to Liu Hai is not what he wants.
Able to decide.
"I can't make the decision on this matter. I'll ask you. Just wait for my news."
"Brother Zhang, I need something urgently here. Don't hold me back. Just ask the higher ups today. It's best to give me a reply within two or three days. I'm thinking of transporting the warship as well this time.
Walk."
When Zhang Tao saw Liu Hai summoning him like this, he knew that there might be a big battle on his side.
"Okay, I'll make a report when I get back soon, and try to hurry you up."
Liu Hai breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Zhang Tao's reply.
Why is Liu Hai so anxious to buy warships in modern times to expand her strength? This is because Liu Hai thinks that if her Nanyang Navy fights and defeats Japan after the defeat of the Beiyang War, Britain will send warships for the sake of its interests in the Far East.
put one's oar in.
Although he already has 4 Iowa-class battleships, the British have hundreds of ironclads, and the British have now begun to equip the pre-dreadnought "Sovereign Class" battleships. Once a decisive battle occurs between the two sides, Liu Hai is really not sure
It can defeat the British navy. After all, if there are too many ants, it can kill an elephant.
After Zhang Tao left Liu Hai's side, he immediately reported Liu Hai's request to his superiors through secret channels.
Anything involving bangs is a big deal, and it was quickly sent to the higher authorities.
The leaders above have heard about Liu Hai for a long time. This is an important link for future strategic development. In order to enable Liu Hai to achieve greater results in another dimension, it is natural to provide strong support.
Because of this, the higher authorities quickly issued an order, agreeing to Liu Hai’s purchase of four decommissioned 051 guided missile destroyers.
After receiving the notice from their superiors, the naval department immediately followed the requirements and sailed four destroyers to Qingdao Pier.
After Zhang Tao received the notice from his superiors, he rushed to Liu Hai's villa without stopping and informed him. The superiors agreed to sell him four 051 latest improved destroyers.
After Liu Hai got the news, he finally felt relieved. Now he was straightened up. With these four 051 destroyers, plus two improved Rakshasa cruisers, these missiles combined were enough to destroy a country.
The British fleet.
That night Liu Hai said goodbye to Wang Fang, and then took a military plane to Qingdao, where he saw the four destroyers he was looking forward to.
So in the middle of the night, Liu Hai stored these four destroyers in his own space? They were placed together with the original four Iowa battleships and two Rakshasa guided missile cruisers in the ring.
After that? Liu Hai did not stay in the current plane but returned to the Qing Dynasty plane, because this plane is the most tense time now. If something unexpected happens and Liu Hai is not in Liangjiang, we still don’t know what will happen in the end.
trouble.
After Liu Hai came back, his staff immediately informed Liu Hai of what had happened in the court in the past few days. As expected, the British had now begun to blatantly support the Japanese.
According to intelligence, there are now British warships monitoring the Wusongkou Pier in Shanghai day and night. This is to prepare a message to Japan. I am afraid that as soon as the Nanyang Navy leaves the port, Japan will have already received the news, and even the route and location of the Japanese
Everyone will know clearly.
However, Liu Hai does not take these British people seriously now. He has now determined that the ten warships he purchased in modern times are enough to compete with the British.
Now that he had no worries, Liu Hai immediately dispatched a new type of destroyer to expel the British surveillance ships for his own safety.
The British sent to monitor Liu Hai was just an old-fashioned cruiser. For the British sent by Liu Hai, which was considered a very advanced light cruiser, there was nothing they could do.
Fortunately, Liu Hai's warships did not dare to fire cannons and were only harassing left and right. Otherwise, this old-fashioned cruiser would have been sent to the bottom of the sea long ago.
Even this made the warship feel very unhappy, so the next day, the British Consul in Shanghai, Moritz Earhart, hurried to Nanjing on the warship.
Moritz Earhardt didn't rest at all after arriving in Nanjing. After getting off the ship, he took his entourage and hurried to the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. When he got here, he ignored the soldiers at the door and rushed in directly.
When the soldiers guarding the door saw the foreign masters coming so aggressively, they dared to stop them. They could only send people in to report and follow the foreign masters at the same time, fearing that they would cause some trouble and Liu Hai would blame them.
But I can't afford the guilt.
After receiving the news, Liu Hai hurried from the back house to the front hall, where before Liu Hai could sit down, he met the aggressive British Consul Moritz Earhart.
"Mr. Liu, Governor of Liangjiang, I now make the strongest protest to you on behalf of the British government."
After Liu Hai sent warships to harass the British surveillance ships, he knew that the other party would be like this, so he sat slowly in the middle, took a cup of tea and looked at the other party, and then asked: "Mr. Consul, what are you talking about?"
What’s the protest about?”
"Does Mr. Liu really not know? I think you are deliberately evading, right?"
"I really don't know what happened. Please tell me, Mr. Consul."
Moritz Earhardt glared at Liu Hai fiercely, and then said: "When we were in Shanghai, our British Empire warships were harassed by Nanyang Navy warships, putting them in danger many times. I am now
The Nanyang Navy is required to return to the base immediately and not appear near Shanghai."
After hearing this, Liu Hai understood that the consul wanted to use the name of the British to control the Nanyang Navy at Wusongkou Wharf, so that the Japanese could take action against Beiyang with confidence and boldness.
But this is exactly what Liu Hai meant. Now Liu Hai is thinking that he will temporarily let Beiyang fight the Japanese and consume Beiyang's strength. At that time, with Nanyang's current army and navy, he will be able to sweep the world.
So Liu Hai pretended to be very indignant and said: "This is the territorial waters of the Qing Dynasty in Shanghai. Can't our own warships sail in our own territorial waters?"
When Moritz Earhardt heard Liu Hai pretending to be angry, he could tell that he was strong on the outside but incompetent on the inside, so he became even more arrogant, "According to the agreement signed between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty, the warships of the British Empire can visit all waters of the Qing Dynasty."
Navigation must not be harassed or blocked. This time the Nanyang Navy has obviously crossed the line. Only by giving the Nanyang Navy a little punishment can we calm the anger in the country. Otherwise, we can only use cannons to speak."
Liu Hai seemed to be annoyed by the other party. He pointed at Moritz Earhardt with trembling hands, but was speechless. Finally, he sat on the stool languidly and said helplessly: "I agree to restrain Nanyang Shui.
Master, are you satisfied now, Mr. Consul?"
Moritz Earhardt laughed when he saw that his purpose of coming this time had been completely achieved. He knew that he could not completely offend Liu Hai, so he comforted Liu Hai and said: "Mr. Governor, Mr. Governor is also our British Empire."
Friends, our British Empire is very friendly to our friends. Didn’t Mr. Governor order a batch of artillery shells from us? When the war is over, these shells will be sold to Mr. Governor at half the price."
Liu Hai thought to himself, who wants those broken shells of yours? Just keep them to mold in the warehouse.
But Liu Hai couldn't say these words because he wanted to paralyze the British and Japanese, so he could only say thank you to the British envoy.
Seeing that the matter had been successfully completed, Moritz Earhardt left the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion proudly.
After the other party left, Liu Hai's eyes immediately shone with golden light, looking as decadent as before.
Liu Hai was not angry about the British coming to protest. Instead, he felt that this was a God-given opportunity. He had never wanted to go north, but this time it was really a pillow for sleep.
So Liu Hai immediately informed the Qing government via telegram that the British consul had made the most solemn protest to him, demanding that the Nanyang Navy not leave Wusongkou Pier.
When the Qing government received the news, they were in an uproar. They did not expect that Britain would favor the Japanese in this way.
So the Prime Minister's Office of the Qing Dynasty immediately made the most solemn protest to the British Minister to the Qing Dynasty.
However, this protest was immediately countered by the British government. The British demanded that the Nanyang Navy not leave the base, just because the activities of the Nanyang Navy interfered with the interests of the British Empire in the Yangtze River waters and had nothing to do with the Japanese.
At this time, Li Hongzhang's hope for external powers to intervene in the armistice was completely shattered, and he could only strengthen preparations for war now.
But the first problem before Li Hongzhang was the shortage of artillery shells for the warships of the Beiyang Navy. Li Hongzhang was very troubled by this problem.
In the end, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to order the Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau to fully produce artillery shells for the Beiyang Navy's operations. However, it was precisely because of this order that the Beiyang Navy was at a disadvantage in future battles.