Master Yuan, start!

It was different from President Yuan's cheerful conversation with Americans in Guangzhou and his efforts to win the hearts of Chinese businessmen in Luzon.

The atmosphere inside the French Indochina Governor-General's Palace was somewhat depressing.

Because the returning fleet, which was supposed to return on the 20th, is already 3 days late!

3 days!

Even if you travel from Singapore to Hong Kong, it will take less than 3 days, let alone Saigon which is even closer?

When the Indochina authorities received the news that the French support fleet had set off from France, they were extremely excited and thought that the hope of France's counterattack had come.

But at this moment, all the excitement and excitement disappeared. What everyone wanted to know most now was where the fleet was.

Was it due to sea storms or interception?

That was the last hope for France's Indochina colony. Once problems arose with the support fleet, the blow to the colony would be more than just a naval failure.

This means that the colonial army also lost follow-up support and the possibility of reversing defeat!

The Chinese can rely on their almost endless supply of troops and use human lives to take Hue and even Saigon!

However, despite all the concerns, many people still insisted that even if the Chinese fleet intercepted the French support fleet, it would not be possible to swallow it all at once.

You know, that is a fleet with the battleship Osh. Although it is not ranked high in Europe, it is a first-class warship in Asia.

This kind of self-comforting confidence made Paul Toume, the Governor-General of Indochina, who was sitting in the corner and watching the busy French officers, feel much more relieved.

The French support fleet was not only the capital for the Indochina colony to turn defeat into victory, but also the capital for him to maintain his title as the governor of the colony.

If something goes wrong with the support fleet, the entire situation will completely collapse.

"Your Excellency, Governor, I think we should immediately order the French Far East Fleet to depart to meet the French support fleet coming from afar!"

A mid-level officer looked at the silent Indochina Governor-General Paul Dume and suggested.

"No." Paul Dumay shook his head: "If the Far East Fleet goes south, what will happen to the French troops along the Guangxi coast and what will happen to Hue?

Without the fleet's firepower support, if the Chinese were to break into these cities and end our rule there, can you afford the consequences?"

As the Governor-General of French Indochina, Paul Toume was more concerned about his future in politics.

He knew that the situation in Indochina could not deteriorate any further, so in addition to the French support fleet, he also regarded the French troops still staying in Guangxi as a necessary condition for a counterattack.

If the Far East Fleet were sent south to meet the support fleet, once the Chinese realized this, they would probably do their utmost to inflict a heavy blow on the French army in Guangxi.

In this way, even if the support fleet arrives, the front-line counterattack positions in Guangxi will disappear.

And he himself is likely to be transferred back to Paris as a loser, which is absolutely unacceptable!

However, just because Paul Dumei thinks so doesn't mean others think so too.

A French colonel retorted directly, "What should we do? Governor, are we going to just watch and watch until there is no news from the French support fleet?

Or should we do nothing but pray to God?!"

The colonel looked at Paul Dume with a vengeance. If this guy hadn't firmly grasped the power of naval deployment, perhaps the French Far East Fleet would have already reunited with the French support fleet. Why would they still be sitting in the room like this, waiting uselessly?

Just as the dispute in the Governor's Mansion was going on and the tension between the soldiers and the Governor was growing stronger, the sound of hurried footsteps made everyone stand up suddenly.

Soso 966?791+zero?

"Report, a telegram has come in from the port, a fleet has appeared off the coast of Saigon and is now heading towards the port.

According to observations, there are ships flying the French flag in the fleet, and judging from the appearance of some of the ships, they are very similar to troop transports!

But for some reason, the battleship Osh is nowhere to be seen."

"French flag, troop ship?"

Upon hearing this news, the Indochina Governor's Office suddenly fell silent, and everyone subconsciously ignored the messenger's words, "The battleship Osh is missing."

Has the French support fleet finally arrived?

Thinking of this, everyone in the Governor's Mansion showed excitement!

Three days, three whole days.

Everyone has been living in fear and has been waiting for three days. Now there is finally news, and it is good news. How can we not be excited?

Paul Toume, the Governor-General of West Indochina in Qionglan, now looked at the French colonel who had just contradicted him with a more favorable attitude.

Wu and Wu smiled at each other and tacitly forgot the unpleasant conversation just now.

Just as the French were rejoicing, a completely different scene was unfolding on the fleet sailing towards the port off the coast of Saigon.

Alfred von Tirpitz, commander of the German Far East Fleet, put down his telescope, looked at Saigon, the core city of French Indochina, and laughed.

"Boys, raise the German flag and tell the French

We helped him rescue many French soldiers who fell into the water. How are they going to repay us for this?"

The outcome of the Battle of Natuna was not surprising.

Facing the battleships Fuji and Yashima, which were an order of magnitude higher than itself, the French battleship Hoche could not last more than a few rounds before its cabin was hit, its deck tilted, and its right turret could no longer fire effectively.

Seeing that the flagship was damaged, the remaining French battleships desperately poured ammunition towards the Fuji and Yashima.

However, the Beiyang Fleet led by the Haifeng and Haiji were also not idle. They relied on their speed to disrupt the formation of the French support fleet and hit a French troop transport ship.

Seeing the lightly armored troop transport ship crumbling, General Joffre on the battleship Osh, knowing that the game was over, finally made up his mind and sent out a flag signaling the fleet to surrender.

However, the Japanese, who had already gone crazy, deliberately ignored the surrender signal sent by the French. They surrounded the Osh and launched another round of bombardment.

The Fuji and Yashima did not stop their attack until the nearby German fleet came to stop them.

But at that time, the Osh was already taking on water everywhere and could not be saved.

As a result, this Natuna ambush ended with the French support fleet losing two cruisers, a Hoche battleship, and a troop transport ship.

As for the French who fell into the water, about 7% were rescued thanks to the subsequent salvage work of German warships and the Beiyang Fleet.

As for the battleships Fuji and Yashima, only minor damage was done to their hulls.

After all, the armor of the Fuji-class battleship was too thick. The side armor reached a terrifying thickness of 457mm, which was even thicker than the armor of the "Yamato battleship" that Japan was proud of during World War II.

As long as the vulnerable underwater parts are not attacked, or the command tower is not hit directly, it is difficult for the Fuji-class battleship to lose its combat effectiveness in the first place.

Although the Beiyang Fleet squadron also did not sink a single ship, it paid the price of a fire on the Hailong, water entering the hull, and a reduction in speed.

Therefore, after resting, Liu Bohong decided to take the Hailong back to port.

As for the remaining ships of the Beiyang Fleet, they, together with the Fuji and the Yashima, headed north to the coast of Guangxi, seeking a decisive battle with the French Indochina Fleet entrenched there.

　...

"These two battleships are really good, even stronger than Dingyuan and Zhenyuan!"

In the western South China Sea, the Beiyang Fleet, which had ambushed southward, joined forces with the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, which had come to join them, and continued to sail northward, cutting through the waves.

Captain Xie Baozhang of the Haifeng looked at the battleships Fuji and Yashima not far away, put down his telescope, turned around and handed a cigarette to the first mate Ma Jifen, and then started talking.

Little Ma Jifen came to the Far East in order to trace his brother "Big Ma Jifen" who served in the former Beiyang Navy.

However, at that time he did not know that the Beiyang Fleet had become the South China Sea Fleet. By accident, he joined the Beiyang Fleet of the National Revolutionary Army.

Later, during the Huai River Campaign, Da Ma Jifen, who was serving in the South China Sea Fleet, was captured along with the Zhenyuan and incorporated into the Beiyang Fleet.

Little Ma Giffen in the original time and space has been in the United States, while Big Ma Giffen participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and was seriously injured. After returning to the United States, he was indignant about the unfair public treatment suffered by the Beiyang Fleet, and traveled around the United States to give speeches, trying to clear the name of this fleet.

However, Japan's means of international public opinion at that time were obviously much more sophisticated than those of the Qing Dynasty. The Japanese portrayed the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 as a "counterattack by a civilized country against a barbaric country."

Magifin's cry alone was completely powerless to fight against the overall situation.

Therefore, on the second anniversary of the suicide of Beiyang Fleet officials such as Ding Ruchang and Yang Yonglin, Magifin felt deeply unfair about international public opinion and committed suicide in anger in a hospital in the United States.

Before his death, he left a will saying "I will always be a member of the Beiyang Navy and I have no regrets in this life". Then, his brother followed his wishes and dressed him in the Beiyang Navy uniform. He was buried under the Yellow Dragon Flag of the Qing Dynasty brought back from the Zhenyuan and draped over his coffin.

In his previous life, Magifin did not receive the treatment he deserved. Knowing the tragic history, Yuan Xiangcheng would naturally not allow this American friend who had deep feelings for China to be treated unfairly in this time and space.

Therefore, after Magifin surrendered with the Zhenyuan, Yuan Shikai personally summoned the young Magifin in the Beiyang Fleet and met with the two in Guangzhou.

Yuan Xiangcheng said that if Magifin was tired of the war and wanted to return to the United States, the new government would be willing to hire him as a liaison to the domestic consulate in California, at the same level as a consul.

If they are willing to continue serving in the navy, he will definitely support them and guarantee that when the navy expands in the future, the Magifin brothers will become official captains.

After some thought, Magifin chose the latter and continued to stay in the navy as the first mate of the Zhenyuan.

At this point, Ma Jifen, who was quite tragic in the original time and space, and his brother, have joined the National Revolutionary Army Navy.

These two people have also, to a certain extent, facilitated further cooperation between the United States and China.

However, at this time, little Maggie Fen did not realize his specialness.

After hearing Xie Baozhang's envious tone, he naturally took the cigarette, took out a box of matches made outside the Great Wall from his arms, gently rubbed the sandpaper on the outside, lit the match, and then put the cigarette in his mouth and brought it closer. With a slight touch, he lit the cigarette.

"The Fuji and Yashima are certainly good, my captain. After all, they are British-produced 10,000-ton ships, and the number of both large-caliber guns and small-caliber medium-speed guns has been increased."

As an American, he was more accustomed to smoking cigars. Even with a puff of smaller cigarettes, little Magifon was still a little uncomfortable with it.

The taste is not pure enough!

Little Magifan exhaled a puff of smoke and curled his lips.

1 However, when he thought about being able to smoke more Cuban cigars in the future, he felt happy again.

After hearing the news that the U.S. Pacific Fleet had entered Manila Bay, he, an American who had been serving in the Beiyang Fleet, was eager to take the Beiyang Fleet to the Philippines to help in the war.

Even if he understood that if the Beiyang Fleet did not help, the US Pacific Fleet would not fail.

7 But the feeling of participating in person is still different after all.

6 Calculating the time, the outcome of the Battle of Manila has probably been decided by now.

9 Spain, as a Chinese idiom says, is nothing but dry bones in a tomb.

After taking two puffs to satisfy his craving, little Magifan squinted his eyes and looked at the Fuji in front of him. He said with a sigh and a look of relief, "It's a good thing the Spanish don't have warships like this. Who would have thought that the once glorious Spanish Empire would be so destitute today?"

"Yes, the Invincible Armada that once crisscrossed the seven seas, and so much silver from South America, couldn't even make Spain more glorious." Xie Baozhang smacked his lips.

"If there were that much silver in the country, they could have built 10 Fuji-class battleships without blinking an eye. The Spanish royal family only knows how to use gold and silver for pleasure, which is really a waste of resources."

6 At this point, Xie Baozhang said angrily: "Bah, these imperialists are really the same kind of people."

Little Magiffin, who grew up in the republican United States, also had no fondness for the imperial system. He nodded and agreed:

"Haha, Spain's failure is inevitable.

I heard that their king is similar to the Tartar emperor of your Qing Dynasty, using gold and silver to build the palace.