November 1, 1874, Nanjing.
"The British Empire has officially declared war on China!" In the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the British ambassador to China spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Li Xin with the most solemn expression.
"China has officially declared war on Britain!" Li Xin said calmly to the British ambassador.
This scene was very much like a kindergarten scene where two children shouted with a serious expression, "I'll never play with you again." After exchanging the declaration of war, Li Xin made a gesture of invitation to the British ambassador. The British ambassador was stunned, but finally walked to the door.
He pushed open the door, and inside was a meeting room. The British ambassador and Li Xin each brought a translator with them. The four of them sat calmly on the sofa on both sides of the coffee table. Li Xin poured a cup of black tea for the British ambassador and himself. Then he said, "The door of peace has always been open. I believe that Britain will not let the war go on indefinitely."
The British ambassador agreed with this. In theory, after the war began, there would be a period of peace talks, and after the peace talks, there would be a period of war. The peace of this world was like sweet jam sandwiched in a thick slice of bread. The taste was intoxicating, but only a thin layer.
Li Xin continued, "The war between China and Britain will be a war that will cost both sides a lot. I don't think the war can end immediately. Our attitude is very simple. If your country wants to maintain the status quo as a condition for ending the war, we will consider it. "
This was a very correct attitude. The British ambassador also asked a question rationally, "What do you mean by maintaining the status quo?"
Li Xin explained, "Our country has no intention of annexing the British colonies in Asia. I have to make this clear to the British. If the war ends, we are also willing to guarantee that the British colonies in Asia will not be harmed. I think this is a good situation to end the war with dignity. "
The British ambassador was very keen to grasp the key point. He asked, "So which countries will lose their colonies in Asia?"
Li Xin continued calmly, "The current French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies will become the territory of China. We have taken back Hong Kong, and Myanmar will return to the embrace of China. "
When the British Ambassador heard this, he wanted to fly into a rage, or at least show his anger. However, in such a private meeting, pretending to use emotional means was too childish. In the end, the British ambassador chose to treat it calmly. He also calmly asked, "Do you think the British Empire will agree to China doing this?"
"It's a naval war between China and England now. It's a competition of industrial capabilities. If I say that China will definitely win, I believe that you will think that I am bragging. In China, there is a saying that goes, "No discord, no concord". War was a tragic thing, but it allowed both sides to understand each other's strength, which would prevent more tragedies in the future. If we're talking about the driving force of war, it's probably only this much. "Li Xin spoke like a philosopher who bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of mankind.
The British ambassador to China was well aware of the current situation. The British navy was in a disadvantageous position. The biggest disadvantage was not that the warships were damaged, but that the naval war between the two sides was in a completely unequal situation. The design of the British campaign was originally based on an unequal foundation, which meant that the British had an absolute advantage in battle. After destroying the Chinese Navy, the British could attack China's ports at will.
It turned out that the British were wrong. In terms of the naval strength of the two sides, the British might have a slight advantage. However, in the comparison of ironclad warships and armored warships, China had a great advantage. The British miscalculation on the tactical level led to a very serious result. The port facilities could not escape. When the British had the advantage of the fleet, the British did not need to be a thief for a thousand days, but China had to be on guard for a thousand days. The British Fleet did not have the advantage, so the British needed to always be on the lookout for a surprise attack by the China Fleet.
China's coast from Vladivostok, Lushun, Dalian, Tianjin, Weihai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Shanghai, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou, in addition to being able to dock the fleet, there was a considerable degree of ship maintenance capability. Strong turrets were built near the ports, equipped with powerful cannons.
Ryukyu, Taiwan, Qiongzhou, Luzon, Lanfang, and Anbuda also had a large number of ports that could dock the fleet, as well as turrets to guard the ports.
China did not adopt the colonial model in the new expansion of the territory. All of China's territory was China's territory. In these territories, China spent a lot of money on a large number of infrastructure construction, railways, roads, mines, shipyards, and maintenance plants. On the other hand, the British did not have a base along the coast of China, and there was no industry in the British colonies. If they wanted to overhaul their warships, they used to go to Guangzhou and Shanghai to rent China's docks and buy materials from China for repairs. Now, if they wanted to overhaul their warships, they had to go back to the British mainland for repairs.
After being a sh * t stick for hundreds of years, it was necessary to consider problems from the perspective of other countries' interests. The British ambassador now understood what Li Xin meant. China did not invade the British colonies in Asia, which meant that the British only had the Straits Settlements and India in Asia. China blocked the British in the Strait of Malacca. So what if the British occupied half of the Strait of Malacca? Would the British dare to send their navy to launch a military attack on the core and elite areas of China? That kind of one-way attack was meaningless. Once that kind of war started, China could directly take over the British Straits Settlements and seal the British Fleet in the South China Sea.
If the British recognized this fact, it would be equivalent to recognizing China's hegemony in the Western Pacific. Li Xin used a compassionate tone to tell the British that China's goal was hegemony in the Western Pacific and asked the British to recognize China's hegemony in the Western Pacific.
If the British wanted to recognize China's hegemony in the Western Pacific, they would have to rely on the navy to determine who was superior. China had already begun to do so, and now it seemed that China had achieved its goal. The British Grand Fleet had to return to Singapore to regroup and prepare for another battle.
If the British were in an advantageous position, they could intimidate China through the anger of the diplomats. In the face of a sinister guy like Li Xin, anger would only be a joke. The British Ambassador replied calmly, "We will consider this matter."
While the British were nervously preparing for the next stage of the war with China, the authorities in French Indochina were in a state of anxiety. They were eagerly awaiting the news of the British Grand Fleet's victory. As long as the British Grand Fleet won, the war against China would expand. At this time, France would have the opportunity to increase its military strength in French Indochina. Removing the vassal states around China would be the view of the European powers. At least the Russians would absolutely support this approach.
The British, French, and Russian countries all had a strong desire to attack China and could form an alliance on this basis. Once the British, French, and Russian formed an alliance against China, when this alliance returned to Europe, Germany would be finished. Letting the Germans be finished was the greatest wish of the French now.
On the 18th of October, the French warship that was watching the battle sailed to Saigon, the capital of French Indochina. The French also knew what was good for them. After hearing the result of the naval battle, the upper echelons of French Indochina knew that something was wrong. The French governor could not help but say, "The British shouldn't act rashly at this time."
This timid remark was unanimously agreed by the middle and upper echelons of the French colonies, who were also afraid. The French colonial authorities were ordered to fully cooperate with the British in the war with China. China was now at a stalemate with the British. Even if the Chinese Navy was temporarily at a disadvantage, the Sixth Army of China was completely at an advantage against the French colonies.
The governor said in a calm tone, "We, France, are not a belligerent country. As long as we abide by the treaty of neutrality and prohibit the armies of the two countries from passing through our territory and waters, the Chinese have no reason to fight us."
This was already in conflict with the orders of the French government, but the colonial officials unanimously agreed. They immediately prepared to submit a document to China in self-preservation mode, stating the position of French Indochina.
Before the document was finished, the signaller scrambled into the governor's office and shouted in the shrill voice of a shepherd boy who saw a pack of wolves, "Sir Governor, the Chinese fleet has reached the open sea and has begun to bombard our warships."
"Are the Chinese crazy! Aren't they afraid of the British and French forming an alliance? "The governor shouted in fear.
China was not worried at all about the British and French forming an alliance. Not only did the navy begin to annihilate the navy of French Indochina, but the 36,000 troops also passed through the territory of Vietnam and headed straight for Saigon. The result of the war was not surprising. The 3,000 French could not resist the 30,000 Chinese troops. China easily annexed French Indochina.
On November 11, 1874, the French government received the news. At this time, France had just gritted their teeth to complete the war reparations of 500 million francs to Prussia stipulated in the Treaty of Frankfurt. The French were humiliated to the peak. Suddenly receiving such a blow, the French people's anger could be imagined. The French government chose to expel the Chinese ambassador from France on the grounds that China was not welcome, and at the same time recalled the French ambassador to China. France immediately declared war on China.
On November 15, a French writer wrote a novel called "The Last Lesson," in which the Vietnamese children, who had been fond of playing truant in French Indochina, attended their last lesson in French. At the end of the novel, the writer wrote passionately:
… The French language is the most beautiful in the world, the most intelligible, the most precise; and we must keep it in our hearts and never forget it. The memory of a conquered and enslaved people of their language is like the key to a prison.
… Suddenly the church clock struck twelve. And the bell of prayer rang. Outside the window came the bugles of the Chinese soldiers — they had called it a day. Monsieur Hamel stood up, his face pale. I thought he had never looked so tall.
"My friends," he said, "I — I —"
But he choked, he could not go on.
He turned to the blackboard, took up a piece of chalk, and, with all his strength, wrote a line in French: "Vive la France!"
Then he stood there, leaning his head against the wall, saying nothing, but making a gesture to us: "School is over — you may go."
Any romantic Frenchman would have been moved to tears when he read this article. The humiliation of losing French land after the defeat of the war resonated strongly. Although French was never spoken in southern Vietnam, and there were no French schools for the Vietnamese in French Indochina, the natives of Alsace and Lorraine had been speaking German for generations. But the French people did not care. Humiliation and gratitude stirred the hearts of the French. They knew that, like Alsace and Lorraine, if France could not defeat China and Germany, it would never get back these lands.
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