The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 469 We have to destroy those ships, otherwise I won’t be able to sleep
"Mr. Chen, this... this..."

When the people from the shipyard arrived, their eyes lit up when they saw the ships on the dock.

Especially the Warrior, even though it is an obsolete battleship, its structure and design ideas, as well as data on artillery distribution, armor protection, etc., are still extremely valuable to the people at the United Steel Shipyard.

"We will drive the ship into the dock for maintenance tomorrow and install those cannons! The British have arranged some engineers to come over. After work every day, we will provide those engineers with wine and women to get more information out of their mouths." Chen Zhengwei said.

"In addition, all the people in the shipyard must sign long-term employment contracts and confidentiality agreements. What they know is not allowed to be spread out! They are also not allowed to leak the steam engine to the British."

"When communicating with the British, my people must be present."

Whether this type of contract is binding enough depends mainly on who holds it.

In Chen Zhengwei's hands, if someone really dares to escape, even if the US government protects him, he can force the US government to hand over the person.

Even if he runs to Britain, he will send people to Britain to kill him.

Peter Donahue looked ahead with a fiery gaze and nodded, "Mr. Chen, I know what to do."

He was now extremely certain that their shipyard would become the best shipyard in the entire United States.

This is what he pursued all his life.

"Let's go up and take a look!" Seeing the battleship Warrior entering the port, Chen Zhengwei couldn't help but take people on board with great interest.

"This ship was commissioned in 1861. At that time, countless reporters spread the news and photos to all parts of the world, which was a testament to the power of the British Empire."

"This warrior is 128 meters long, 18 meters wide, with a draft of approximately 8 meters and a standard displacement of 9210 tons. It is equipped with two 3900-horsepower horizontal inline steam engines, a sail area of 48400 square feet, a maximum speed of 13.75 knots, and can be equipped with 40 110-pound main guns and 4 40-pound secondary guns. It has 4.5-inch armor..."

"Of course, according to regulations, all the ship's guns have been removed, and the ship was sold to a businessman as a commercial ship after it was decommissioned."

The naval lieutenant commander who had dealt with him last time came with an engineer to introduce to Chen Zhengwei. The engineer knew all the data of the ship.

The Navy Lieutenant Commander said with a smile:

"He's yours now!"

It was shocking enough to look at the ship from below, but once on board, there were new feelings.

This ship is much more stable than ordinary ships, especially the steel hull and deck, which gives people a great sense of security.

The only thing that made Chen Zhengwei dissatisfied was that the ship did not have a bridge, but instead had a steering wheel platform at the rear of the ship, about three meters above the deck, but it was open to the sky.

It neither blocks the wind nor protects against rain.

Otherwise, Chen Zhengwei thought it would be fun to go fishing on this boat.

"Can this place be enclosed? Add a roof on top, and then use iron plates and glass around it." Chen Zhengwei asked the engineer.

"Of course you can...and it won't have any impact." The engineer shrugged.

This is not difficult, and the wind resistance does not change much.

Chen Zhengwei was satisfied, and turned to Rong Jiacai and A Long and said with a smile: "Next time we will go fishing in this!"

"Brother Wei, where do we go fishing?" Rong Jiacai asked with a smile after thinking for a while.

Chen Zhengwei grinned, revealing a smile full of cruelty.

"Some people used to treat me like bullshit! As expected, I have to put a thing on their necks before they'll listen to me!"

"Brother Wei, are you talking about those idiots in Cuba? You must take me with you when the time comes! Let's set up the cannons over there and see what their expressions are!" Aaron immediately said excitedly, and he almost pulled Chen Zhengwei to set off immediately.

Recently, when he was having dinner, he heard about this from Chen Zhengwei and knew that Chen Zhengwei was very unhappy about it.

After walking around the ship, I went to see the Palmer frigate, which was 82 meters long, 15 meters wide, and had a displacement of 3770 tons. It was much shorter than the Warrior. It was a wooden and iron frigate, which was considered outdated in the British Navy.

But compared with other countries except the old European powers, it is still a powerful warship.

There are three countries at war in South America now. Peru's two most powerful iron steam warships are the Independence with a displacement of 3500 tons and the Juzcar with a displacement of 1100 tons.

The Huskal was similar to the six Ter-class gunboats that Chen Zhengwei bought.

This shows the status of the warships that Chen Zhengwei bought from the British in the world.

Even if the USS Warrior battleship is excluded, the other battleships can defeat a country's navy.

Peru's overall strength in South America is fourth in South America, after the Brazilian Empire, the Argentine Republic and the Republic of Chile.

Peru's naval strength is second only to Chile in South America.

It was not until the evening that Chen Zhengwei returned to Chinatown satisfied.

The news that Chen Zhengwei bought a fleet has spread throughout San Francisco, especially since this fleet also included the battleship Warrior.

This news also reached Washington.

"Mr. President, we have received very important news! I think it is necessary to inform you." The president's staff walked quickly into the study, where Rutherford Birchard Hayes was sitting behind the desk drinking black tea.

He hasn't felt calm in a long time.

The recent lobbying of southern states has been going smoothly, which finally made him less anxious today and allowed him to sit behind the desk and enjoy a cup of evening tea.

"What news?" When President Rutherford B. Hayes saw the expressions of his staff, he had a bad feeling.

"That Chinese..."

"It's him again!" Rutherford Birchard Hayes started to get a headache when he heard the word Chinese.

"Okay, keep talking."

"Mr. President, that Chinese bought a fleet!" the aide took a deep breath.

"What?" Rutherford Birchard Hayes scratched his ears. He thought he had heard it wrong, or the other party had said it wrong.

"Mr. President, the Chinese bought a fleet!" the aide repeated again.

"A fleet?" Rutherford Birchard Hayes looked at the other party in confusion.

"Yes, the British sold him the battleship Warrior! There was also the Palmer frigate and six Tell-class gunboats - which are also the main gunboats of the British Navy... a total of eight battleships, and five transport ships!" The staff explained, putting a telegram on the table.

Hearing this, Rutherford Hayes finally confirmed that he had heard correctly, and that the other party was right. He took the telegram and took a look at it. Rutherford Hayes suddenly stood up from his chair, his face full of anger, his hair almost standing up:

"Have the British gone mad? How dare they do this? Summon the British ambassador for me. I want their explanation!"

"Notify the Vice President, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Secretary of the Navy to come here."

Soon, Vice President William A. Wheeler, Secretary of State William M. Everts, Attorney General Charles Deves, and Secretary of the Navy Richard W. Thompson arrived at the White House and walked into the Red Room (a reception room used for small meetings) with solemn expressions.

They received the news on the way.

Obviously, this is not good news.

Rutherford Heller looked at everyone with a gloomy expression. "You should all know the situation! Let Thompson explain the situation! That ship the Chinese bought from the British...how big of a threat does it pose to us?"

Others also looked at the Minister of the Navy. After all, they didn't understand this.

Richard Thompson had the most serious expression.

He looked at the information in front of him and tried to explain in plain language, "According to the information we have received, eight warships, including the battleship Warrior and the frigate Palmer, arrived at the port of San Francisco. The other six are Tell-class gunboats."

"Among them, the Warrior battleship has a displacement of 9200 tons, and the Palmer frigate has a displacement of 3700 tons..."

Richard Thompson did not mention other data such as the cannons. After a moment of silence, he said, "Our most powerful battleship is the Trenton, with a displacement of 3900 tons. It is an armored cruiser..."

"So our most powerful ship is only comparable to his smaller one?" Vice President William Wheeler asked after taking a deep breath.

"The displacement is about the same!" The Navy Minister did not answer directly, but everyone understood what he meant.

The comparison of displacement is clear at a glance.

The Trenton was launched and commissioned in 1877. In terms of firepower, it was more powerful than the Palmer, but the Trenton had no armor, while the Palmer had 4.5 inches thick armor.

There is another thing that is more important.

"The Trenton was blown up in Annapolis late last year!"

Now everyone's expressions froze.

During the Battle of Annapolis, five navy ships were destroyed, including the USS Trenton, which had only been in service for two years.

"That means he can sail to Washington anytime he wants?" Rutherford Hayes said in a deep voice.

"Fighting at sea is different from fighting on land. They have ships, but they don't have enough trained sailors," the Navy Minister said, and then changed the subject:
"But now that we have the ships, it's only a matter of time before we can train the soldiers. This is a bad sign. Our navy needs more funding and more warships!"

"Otherwise we will always face such threats, and we must have sufficient strength to seize the initiative."

Rutherford Hayes rubbed his temple. "I'll have someone submit a bill to Congress, but it won't happen overnight."

Then he fell into silence. After a while, he finally squeezed out these words from between his teeth.

“This is ridiculous!”

The US Army was defeated by a minority group with a few thousand men, and now even the Navy can't beat them...

It is ridiculous that such a huge country can face such a dilemma.

"Now you know the situation! I have sent someone to invite the British ambassador over!"

"Evertz, I need you to send a telegram to protest to Britain!"

Secretary of State William Everts nodded, and then said: "I believe they are definitely prepared and will not care about our protests!"

"According to the records, the Warrior entered service in 1861. I guess they have already completed the decommissioning procedures for the ship and removed the cannons... They will tell us that this is a merchant ship."

Even though he was not familiar with the navy and ships, Everts was very familiar with these methods, and he knew what excuse the other party would use almost instantly.

"I know they don't care, but I'm still going to tell them I'm fucking angry!" The veins on Rutherford Hayes' forehead were popping out.

"Then, we need to solve this problem. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep if I think that when I wake up tomorrow, I will see the enemy's ships parked in the port of Washington and the cannons facing the White House."

"Can you sleep?"

Rutherford Hayes looked at the Attorney General.

"We need to blow up those ships! Even if it means angering the Chinese and starting another war, we must destroy those ships."

"The Department of Justice should have some people stationed in San Francisco, right? Find a way to blow up those ships!"

The Attorney General looked very embarrassed, as the situation in San Francisco was completely out of the control of the Department of Justice.

Although the Ministry of Justice has deployed some personnel there, they are all there to collect intelligence and it is impossible for them to blow up those ships.

After thinking for a long time, he nodded.

Hopefully, those newly recruited detectives...will be useful.

Those detectives often track, investigate, and capture wanted criminals in other places. They are better at sabotage missions that sneak behind enemy lines.

After the meeting, the Secretary of State sent a telegram to the American Embassy in the UK, and the American Minister then went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express his dissatisfaction and submitted a formal letter of protest with harsh words.

As for the British Foreign Office, after receiving the letter of protest, it inquired with the Navy.

On the second day, he replied casually: "They are just some retired ships that have served in the navy. All weapons have been removed. Now they are just some merchant ships used for maritime trade. There is no illegal transaction. The accusation of the United States is groundless."

At the same time, when facing Rutherford Hayes, the British Minister Edward Thornton simply said calmly: "Mr. President, this is just an ordinary transaction. We are trading some retired grandfather ships, and all the weapons have been removed. These ships are for commercial use and are in full compliance with regulations."

"You know what that Chinese man will do with these ships!" Rutherford Hayes stared at the other party and said coldly.

"No, we don't know. We just sold some obsolete ships as merchant ships, that's all!" Edward Thornton said calmly.

"Don't think I don't know. You also gave him a weapons production line. Your actions have seriously affected the relationship between the United States and Britain!" Rutherford Hayes looked at the other party's attitude and felt a surge of anger from the bottom of his heart. He then said sarcastically:
"If I remember correctly, you were beaten by that Chinese guy a few months ago. Do these two transactions have anything to do with this?"

Edward Thornton's expression finally changed a little, and he retorted:

"He peed you in your pants!"

The two sides then parted unhappily.

(End of this chapter)