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August 7th, Hong Kong.
"Your Excellency, the representative of the Liberation Army asked to see you." The British civil servant in Hong Kong asked Erjin with a little fear.
"What do they want to do with me?" Erjin obviously didn't sleep well. Not only his complexion was dim, but his eyes were also bloodshot.
Seeing that the plenipotentiary representative wasn't angry, the British civil servant calmed down a lot. He said, "the Viceroy Governor's Office asked us if yesterday's military action means that we officially declare war on them?"
After explaining the purpose of this trip, the British civil servant couldn't help but secretly observe Erjin's expression. No matter how the generals reacted, the British civil servant didn't want the war to expand. To prevent the expansion of the war at this stage, first of all, the British said that the military conflict between the two sides was not an official declaration of war on the Viceroy Governor's Office.
The look on Erjin's face was ugly for a moment, then he said to the civil servant with a sneer on his face, "tell them, if we officially declare war on the Viceroy Governor's Office, we will officially inform them!"
This answer made the British civil servant very appreciative. Erjin's attitude was undoubtedly to use the word "delay" by blurring the current situation. Delaying was very beneficial to the British. With time, the British could mobilize troops and coordinate with their allies. The Viceroy Governor's Office would also inadvertently reveal their flaws. At that time, the British could calmly take action.
Thinking of this, the British civil servant replied, "Your Excellency, should I reply to the representative of the Liberation Army like this?"
"Go!" Erjin nodded and agreed.
After sending out his subordinates, Erjin was slightly relieved. Yesterday, that is, August 6th. The twelve warships of the British and French joint fleet were all destroyed when they launched a tentative attack on the Tiger Gate Fort, which surprised the British who was complacent. The small fleet was destroyed too quickly, and the ships that went to rescue did not find any navy personnel who escaped from the sea. For the artillery battle, the content of the intelligence Erjin got was "the sound of artillery shaking the sky", and the intelligence that was even worse than the sound of artillery shaking the sky was "the Tiger Gate Fort area was filled with smoke." As for the number of cannons that made the sound, the location of the cannons, the caliber, and the type, Erjin didn't know anything.
Erjin was stunned by this news. The Liberation Army's ruthlessness and decisiveness were completely beyond Erjin's imagination. In Erjin's imagination, this joint fleet was going to tangle with the Liberation Army for a while. Just like the pushing and shoving before a fight, Britain can be found in the conflict. There was a chance.
Now Erkin felt that as soon as the British finger crossed the line drawn by the Liberation Army, the Liberation Army immediately chopped off a small part of the finger. The speed was so fast that the British team instinctively wanted to pull back their fists, but the pain was real, and it made the British team furious.
Erkin was not the only one who was furious. The French representative had been howling at Erkin's place for a whole night on the evening of August 6th. The French insisted that the British send troops to suppress and restore the Viceroy. Erjin's French was still in the past. Listening to the French representative's words, it seemed that in order to avenge the two French ships, the British Empire would not hesitate to throw the whole British Empire into the war. France's little brother's attitude did not make Erjin more angry. Instead, it made the British plenipotentiary in China calm down.
Britain was still the world's hegemon, the world's number one power. Through the French's unreasonable performance, Erjin re-confirmed his calm judgment of the current situation. France was not a weak country. If Britain was not strong enough, there was no reason for France to be so weak. At this time, Britain only needed to maintain its position as the number one power, and it could get the result of being the number one power. Any action that caused the loss to continue to expand was unwise at this time.
When the people from the Viceroy came to see him, Erjin was quite nervous. It was easy to start a war, as long as the first shot was fired. But to end the war, it was possible only after both sides of the war agreed. No matter how much Erjin hoped that the war would stop temporarily, if the Viceroy wanted to continue to expand the war at this time, then Erjin could only fight. Britain's position as the world's number one power was fought.
Now the performance of the Viceroy proved that they had no intention of expanding the war, which gave Erjin a good way out. Whether to fight or to make peace, Erjin still needed to think about it better.
It didn't take long for the civil official to come back. His face was not very good. "Sir, the Liberation Army said that there were French people among the people they captured. They want us to help ask the French if they are officially declaring war on the Viceroy."
Hearing this question, Erjin frowned deeply. What did the Liberation Army mean by this? Did they want to start with the French to start the war? After thinking for a moment, Erjin suddenly showed a smile. "Tell the representative of the Liberation Army that we do not represent the position of the French. If they are willing, we can help organize them to negotiate with the French."
Hong Kong Island was not very big. The residence of the French commander was not far from Erjin's office. Within half an hour, the Liberation Army began to negotiate with the French. The enthusiastic Gauls were not as insidious as the British. The two sides talked for less than 20 words, and the French side shouted, "We declare war on you now!"
The representative of the Liberation Army told the French about f * ck you, and then let the French come to die. The negotiation ended like this. Soon, the French commander rushed to Erjin's office and angrily asked the British and France to carry out a military attack on the Liberation Army.
"We can support the military action of the French side." Erjin said to the French commander with a fake smile. After the Crimean War, the French wanted to make a profit overseas. Before this trip, they expressed the hope that Indochina could be included in the French sphere of influence. For the French's statement, the British did not clearly support or oppose. The Englishman did not care much about the Frenchman. If they wanted to control Indochina, the French should fight on their own. The British were not obliged to contribute to the French war to seize the colonies.
The French commander was obviously very dissatisfied with Erjin's statement, but the British and French allied forces were dominated by the British. The French commander was very clear that he did not have the ability to command the British army.
"Since you are not willing to do it, then we will do it ourselves!" The French commander put down the harsh words and then left angrily.
In the evening of August 7th, Vézé received a telegram. The attitude of the British was ambiguous, while the French unyieldingly declared war on the Restoration Army. Vézé was surprised and happy about such a result. He was surprised that the British's insidiousness was beyond Vézé's imagination. The British didn't even blink when they sold out their teammates in front of them. He was happy that the Liberation Army finally divided the British and French allied forces. If the French's actual ability to act was really as strong as they shouted, the Liberation Army could establish its own international status by attacking France. At this time, Vézé wanted to know who the guy in charge of the direct communication with the British and French allied forces was. If they could really fight the French alone, Vézé wanted to give the comrade in charge of the negotiation a great credit.
On the morning of August 8th, Vézé was dealing with the allocation of investment in the hydropower station department. A telegram was sent to Vézé. Vézé just looked at it, copied the contents of the telegram in his notebook, and then handed the telegram to the confidential room for filing. Facing the curious eyes of the comrades in the military department, Vézé said, "Continue to discuss the allocation of funds."
Although everyone knew that something big must have happened, they could only suppress their curiosity since Vézé did not say anything.
At this time, Li Yingfei, the commander of the First Division of the Fifth Army, who was responsible for the defense of the Jiulong area, said with concern, "Old Wu, don't be reckless this time!"
Wu Liao, the commander of the First Brigade, was expressionless. He just nodded and said, "Commander, I will fight this battle well."
Seeing Wu Liao's performance, Li Yingfei felt uneasy, but he could only trust Wu Liao. In the Battle of Foshan, the Second Regiment, which Wu Liao belonged to, fought a fierce battle. The 85% casualty rate of the whole regiment set a record for the Liberation Army. Wu Liao was also seriously injured and had a close shave with the gates of hell. It was not easy for him to survive. Since then, Wu Liao had become quiet. Apart from training, he studied every day.
The Liberation Army expanded, and Li Yingfei was transferred to the Fifth Army as the commander of the First Division. The Second Regiment under him was now the First Brigade of the First Division, and Wu Liao was promoted to brigade commander. Wu Liao's wholehearted attitude towards learning and training worried Li Yingfei. In the military academy, Vézé repeatedly talked about "military science" and "when the general is angry, he will mobilize the army". This was a big taboo in the military. Therefore, Li Yingfei could not help but continue to persuade him, "Old Wu, this time, let's fight according to the plan …"
Seeing Li Yingfei's hesitant expression, Wu Liao replied calmly, "Commander, I know that we are fighting the French today!"
There were people in the army who were in charge of psychological adjustment. When faced with these people who had been traumatized by war, the way to untie the knot in their hearts was to let them walk out of the past and not forcibly connect what happened in the present with the past. Regardless of whether the effect was good or not, the injured brothers were not the only ones who had heard the lesson many times. Even officers like Li Yingfei, who were not injured, had heard it so many times that they could recite it. Li Yingfei knew that if he said too much, it would mean that he did not believe Wu Liao. Not to mention that Wu Liao's words also indicated that he knew that this battle was not a continuation of the Battle of Foshan. Whether it was the target of the battle or the time of the war, it was completely different.
"Go, do a good job! Our troops are right behind you! "Li Yingfei finally said.
After the war, the Liberation Army not only built the Tiger Gate Fort, but also built a defense system in the Kowloon area with Lion Rock Mountain as the core. The Kowloon area was a coastal plain, which was very suitable for large-scale battles. The Liberation Army did not want the British to easily break through here and attack the flank of the Tiger Gate Fort by land.
At this time, the troops who were defending the coast had already retreated. Before the war, everyone had studied the national flags, military flags, and military uniforms of various countries in the world. The troops confirmed that about two thousand French troops had set off from the port of Hong Kong Island, crossed the narrow strait, and landed on the Kowloon beach.
Watching Wu Liao go forward to command the troops to fight, Li Yingfei anxiously waited for the telegram from the Tiger Gate. When the foreign devils attacked the Kowloon area, they would probably also attack the Tiger Gate.
"Division Commander, a telegram from Kowloon!" The communications staff officer ran over with a piece of paper.
Li Yingfei opened the telegram and read it. There was a paragraph written on it. "No enemy warships were found in the Tiger Gate waters."
"Could it be that these foreign devils really want to attack Guangdong by land?" Li Yingfei was confused. There were only tens of thousands of foreign devils, it would be completely useless on land.
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