Strait of Malacca, the Riau province of Sumatra.

The Colombo light cruiser has removed the awning and raised five 152mm mm gun barrels. On the deck, Major Jennings raised his telescope and locked the Chinese Navy's South China Sea ocean hydrological survey ship anchored in the middle of the strait near Sumatra. In the past, let alone a naval hydrological survey ship, it would be no big deal to pass a fleet, but now he looks at the South China Sea and stomp his feet: "Damn it! Is this the Yangtze River? It actually ran here. Mattson! Send a signal. This is an international shipping waterway. You have been anchored here for too long and you must leave as soon as possible!"

The Royal Navy, which has been traversing seven seas for many years, knows very well what a marine hydrological survey ship is! Simply put, it is to survey hydrology and peek into the waterway, but it would be great if it was so simple. In fact, in some seas that do not want to cause disputes, the marine survey ship is the vanguard of the navy. The British Empire was able to traverse the world's oceans because of a huge maritime survey fleet. But what made him and the British sailors crazy was that the South China Sea survey ship ordered from the United States was obviously a behemoth, with a standard displacement of 5,700 tons and a full load of 7,000 tons. From a distance, it looked like a steel hill. On the rear deck, motorboats, and seaplanes, it looked like a 76mm self-defense gun in front...

The waving flag verbs were like mud bulls entering the sea, and the South China Sea was obviously unwilling to leave.

Because the newly discovered giant oil field is on the tidal flat not far from starboard, the pipes that diverge gas beside the drilling well are still spitting fire outwards. The flame is dozens of meters long, which shows how strong the pressure of the Nevas in the oil field is. Under the current technical conditions, calculating the gas flow is the most important means to calculate the reserves of the oil field. The more violent the flame is, the more excited the survey team members are. Judging from the half-month eruption data, its reserves may be more than 600 million tons as originally predicted! It is likely to reach 700 million or even more!

No matter where it is placed, this is a strategic discovery! Now the oil consumption in the country is getting bigger and bigger, and the domestic oil fields are in remote areas in the northwest. Not to mention the transportation difficulties, they rely too much on railways, so everyone knows what they have found after discovering it. Ma Kui is also secretly nervous inside the simple wooden house. Because this survey is of great importance, he has never left the survey team from the beginning to the end. In order to ensure safety, many veterans were drawn from the Marine Corps and the National Guard to take off their military uniforms and disguise themselves as staff, plus more than 300 Chinese workers employed in the local area. It is impossible not to attract attention.

"Look? The British cruiser is chanting flags again and wants the South China Sea to leave." Weng Wenhao pointed at the sea and looked anxious: "The muzzle has turned around, it seems that there is really trouble."

"The Dutch soldiers have moved too!" someone shouted next to him.

Everyone turned their heads and looked. Police whistles were also heard from more than 100 Dutch soldiers who arrived a few days ago. It was obvious that they were also preparing to forcibly expel them after seeing the flags of British cruisers on the sea.

"You can't go! Such a large oil field is at the national strategic level in the whole world!" In the crowd, Li Zhongkui, who is currently a professor of geology at Nanjing Central University, stood up. He is also a technical expert of the survey team. In the end, the oil well was also positioned by him. When black oil sprayed out, he had a premonition that the oil field might be very large and the first Chinese scholar to think that the oil field reserves may far exceed expectations. He also believed that there should be new oil fields around this land he bought, so he firmly disagreed with the retreat. On the contrary, he suggested that oil exploration should continue around the surroundings.

He said: "If we leave, our country will lose its opportunity to rise! If we don't leave, we should not only not leave, but we should also continue to explore oil around us. Since we have sold all this land, we have the right to survey minerals and oil here!"

"The country must have sent a navy! We are now the center of national game, so we would rather die than leave!"

After Weng Wenhao and Li Zhongkui said this, everyone said they would never leave. Even the Chinese workers who had eaten and lived with the survey team for more than half a year said they would not leave. "Damn it! He bullied us Chinese for hundreds of years! I wonder if Lan Fang was the one who was inciting the natives to kill them back then! Anyway, Liangzi had already been together, so why not kill the He Lan soldiers over there first!"

Hearing everyone's words and words, Ma Kui was even more anxious. He was not afraid of the Dutch, but worried about the sea. You should know that it is hundreds of kilometers away from Palembang, and all the supplies must be provided by the navy. If the Nanhai left under pressure, they would definitely not be able to stick to it for a long time.

Just when he was anxious, the Nanhai also blew a string of flags. "Look!" Weng Wenhao shouted immediately, pointing to the waving flagpole and translated: "This is a Chinese Navy survey ship, and it is underway for international channel survey missions. Please leave immediately! Leave immediately!"

"Haha... the Navy won't leave! If the Navy doesn't leave, we can't leave either!"

After learning that the South China Sea would not leave, Ma Kui simply gritted his teeth and sent down his self-defense guns. Because it was not easy to carry standard rifles in the Dutch colony, all of them were shotguns and ****s made in the United States. However, even if the firepower could not be compared with the regular army, the guards composed of veterans were not comparable to those of the Dutch soldiers who had not experienced war. They soon dispersed and found cover to prevent the attack from the sea and from the distance.

The abnormal movements of the survey team also attracted the attention of Dutch soldiers, and the harsh police whistle became more and more sharp.

The atmosphere in the oilfield area was tense, and Colonel Jennings was also angry. He had had enough of this cat and mouse game and was determined to give the South China Sea a little color! "Warning 1,000 yards ahead!" The dignified overlord of the Seven Seas has been exposed to the scorching sun for half a month. The British sailor, who had been resentful, was ordered to breathe a sigh of relief. It was better to get a dry stand than to be sunbathed, so he immediately fired a warning bullet at the 1,000 yards ahead of the South China Sea.

The sound of bombardment was particularly harsh. Even Ma Kui and others on the mudflat were startled. They turned their heads and saw a column of water rising in front of the Nanhai. The smoke was shrouded in tension. "Hurry! Get ready for battle." As soon as the Colombo opened fire, the Nanhai, which was ready to go, turned the 76mm naval gun to the other side, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Damn it, do you still want to resist? This is Malacca! Keep firing a warning."

Seeing that the other party refused to leave, Major Jennings tried to turn the guns and fought back. He sneered and was about to give the other party a few harsh blows. But just as the second round of shells was shot, a shout suddenly came from behind him: "God. It's a heavy cruiser in China! Look, he is rushing towards us."

As they shouted quickly, everyone followed the lookout's fingers and saw the heavy cruiser of the Taiwan Island and two destroyers rushed straight from the east. The moving muzzles and the rolling smoke were obviously ready to start the war!

"Damn it, full rudder, engine room, full speed. It's too narrow here. We will be treated as a target. Leave! Let the x and y gun positions be ready for combat, torpedo, torpedo...." The Colombo was in a mess. A little knowledge could understand. The light cruiser could not fight against the heavy cruiser at all, and the speed is only 6 knots now. If you don't get rid of it quickly, I'm afraid the Colombo won't be able to hold on for a few minutes.

More importantly, I just fired a warning! The South China Sea might know it was a warning, but the Taiwan Island was likely to mistakenly think it was an attack, so if you don't leave quickly, it would be bad if the opponent mistakenly thought it was an attack. Jennings dared not gamble on his life! So the Colombo speeded up immediately, and the ship headed westward toward the Indian Ocean to try to get rid of it. 10 knots, 17 knots, 25 knots... The small water pipe boiler showed excellent acceleration performance, and the Colombo soon reached 27 knots. But this speed obviously did not make Major Jennings feel at ease with everyone, because they found that the Taiwan Island heavy patrol actually maintained a speed of 29 knots! There are only two possibilities for maintaining such a high speed in the reef-covered area of ​​the Strait of Malacca! Taiwan Island deliberately drove away, or it was really misunderstood...

The scene of the Taiwan Island sailing through the wind and waves made the merchant ships sailing around frightened and turned to avoid them. Two Changfeng-class destroyers even entered the middle of the South China Sea and Colombo at a high speed of 31 knots. This ocean destroyer, which had modified the power group and changed to three double 120mm guns, drew two huge white tracks on the sea surface and began to slow down, slowly approaching the South China Sea. However, the Taiwan Island heavy patrol was like an angry bull, aiming at the stern of the Colombo ship.

You can't imagine the design speed is 29 knots. In fact, the Colombo, which can only run 27 knots due to long-term maintenance, was chased by the Taiwan Island class 20 kilometers behind him at 29 knots. Even the most bold sailors began to pray.

"God, Is it just a warning shell worth slapping like this?"

"The yellow-skinned monkey must be crazy!"

"There is a reef ahead, hide in."

The more than ten minutes of pursuit made Colonel Jennings' face turn black, but the delay in firing the Taiwan Island did not fire, which also means that the other party was just an expulsion operation. When was the British Empire expelled? So he slapped away the first mate who was about to hide in the reef and ordered to turn. On the warship, the captain was the authority and God, and no matter how reluctant the sailors were, they could only turn around.

The Navy is accustomed to calling cruisers a cat because cats rely on their dexterity rather than brute force when fighting, so the battle cruiser was known as the "perfect cat" since its birth. Obviously, even without fighting, Jennings could not place the Colombo under the muzzle of the heavy cruiser for a long time. He had to find a way to get rid of the opportunity to close the distance and enter the torpedo range, which was also the only way he could defeat the heavy cruiser.

So the Colombo took the initiative to slow down, deflecting the bow to the right to try to maneuver to get rid of the pursuit of the Malayan Peninsula, use the shallow water advantage along the coast to bring the distance closer, and threaten our unknown opponents. The officers of the Royal Navy of the British Empire are worthy of being the most qualified group of naval men in the world. They knew that just 5 152ml45 naval guns would never face the impact of 9 210mml55 naval guns. But to his surprise, the Taiwan Island actually began to slow down at this time, and the bow also deviated towards the Malayan Peninsula, trying to plug directly into the front of the bow of the Colombo to block the route.

The long navigation quickly came to a bad conclusion based on the speed and width of the strait. If the Colombo cannot be increased to 30 knots, it will inevitably be cross-cut by the Taiwan Island. The two ships may eventually... a collision! Jennings does not want to impact. The difference between 8,000 tons of steel has no advantage in impact, so he can only continue to go directly eastward. This is a good way. To go directly east, you can use your clever advantages to avoid the other side, and to have the opportunity to quickly return to the Singapore base. However, Taiwan Island also unexpectedly gave up the oblique insertion, but continued to turn to complete a 180° rotation, slowing down and entering the inner line on the side of Sumatra Island.

If you look down from the sky, the two cruisers completed several turns in just a few dozen minutes of pursuit, and the white trails at the stern formed a spectacular beautiful view. But this beautiful view was something Jennings refused to see because the Colombo was squeezed out to the outside of Sumatra! In other words, unless the heavy patrol was blasted away to pursue it,... it would not be able to support the Dutch army on the shore.

This is a bad result.

Jennings does not think his skills are inferior to his opponent, because he is completely passive and finds that his opponent is heading west and is being chased, so his opponent has enough time than him to complete the inside cut before making moves.

There can't be a war?

Both ships on the sea began to slow down, and the chase between the cats ended with Colombo being driven out of the inner line of Sumatra. Soon, the Taiwan Island arrived on the coast of Riau Province where the survey team was camping, and used its huge body and 9 210mm naval guns to support the protective umbrella. The arrival of the heavy cruiser and destroyer of the Taiwan Island made the Nanhai and Ma Kui cheer, and the Dutch soldiers in the distance immediately retreated. No matter how stupid people are, they know that unless they declare war, it is impossible to complete the expulsion operation.

Is it possible to declare war? At least Bernard completely rejects this possibility.

The United States and France stood by and perhaps secretly prayed for a second Boolean. The Netherlands was completely unreliable, and Japan, which could have been borrowed, temporarily withdrew from the world due to the earthquake. The British Empire... was suddenly isolated! Faced with this situation, Downing Street was also abnormal and required the Chinese Navy to withdraw from the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca within a time limit, otherwise the consequences caused by the Chinese government will be borne by the Chinese government.

The ultimatum is tough, but it makes many British politicians shook their heads. Because they were careful, they found that Downing Street used "limited time" instead of "immediate". This is subtle. Time-limited withdrawal and immediate withdrawal are completely two concepts, which means that at least at this moment of the Far East vacuum, the British Navy cannot come up with too many good solutions to the Cshente fleet.

But the Navy still did not dare to be careless. After confirming that the Japanese Navy was unable, it immediately transferred the two joint force classes of the Beiyang Fleet and the two restored Anhai Classes to Hainan Island in the name of exercise. The sea of ​​the South Ocean was booming, and when China and Britain competed against the giant oil fields of Sumatra Island, Nagata Tieshan had already arrived in Nanjing.

In the small garden of the Presidential Palace, Li Yuanhong warmly welcomed Yanji and Nagata Tieshan who had just arrived. The old fox lowered his eyebrows and looked sad, and patted his thighs as if he was at his home: "Hey! The way of heaven is ruthless, the way of heaven is ruthless! The earthquake in Gansu and Qinghai in our country last year, hundreds of thousands of citizens were killed and injured, and millions were homeless. I thought this kind of earthquake would only happen once every few hundred years. But I didn't expect... I wonder if the Emperor is safe?"

Yoshiki Iji bent down and bowed, and after saluting, he said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty the Emperor is blessed by God and escaped the earthquake by chance."

"That's good, that's good." Li Yuanhong said a few words, before looking at Yang Qiu who was accompanying him. The latter also said "heartbrokenly": "The whole country is also concerned about the troubles caused by your country this time. I don't know what the situation is now? If there are any difficulties, even if we have some rifts before, we are all alone. As the leader of Asia, we are willing to provide you with all necessary assistance to help your country overcome the disaster."

Asian leader... If he could spit, Nagata Tetsuyama wished he could spit over and flew over, looking at Yang Qiu coldly. No matter how he was, or how many Japanese people were in pain and sleepless, he had to admit that Yang Qiu had a very strong personal charm. He was tall and handsome, and perhaps he was in a high position all year round. Even if he sat there, he gave people a calmness like a mountain. Especially those eyes, they always seemed to penetrate people's hearts when they ejaculated.

"This is Mr. Tieshan Nagata? If you need it, just speak. The Red Cross Society of my country has already done a rescue work in Japan." Yang Qiu stared at Tieshan Nagata before turning his head with a smile.

"On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and the Crown Prince, Nagata thanked the President and Vice President for their favor. In addition to informing friends and neighbors about the Kanto earthquake, he also brought His Majesty the Emperor's message. He himself supported your country in obtaining the Sumatra oil field and hoped that your country could protect property belonging to our East Asia and not be plundered by Europe and the United States. Our government is also willing to issue a formal statement on this matter!"

Yang Qiu and Li Yuanhong looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes! Japan actually supported China in obtaining the Sumatra oil field and was preparing to issue a public statement?! The two immediately became alert. If it was not a slander, it only means that Japan was too terrible! It was determined to take out this condition in exchange for a buffer period for post-disaster recovery. You should know that if this statement is issued, Japan-UK relations may deteriorate a lot, and Japan will be placed in the position of Asian interest defenders at once.

What a good idea! Yang Qiu looked at Nagata Tetsuyama's eyes and suddenly asked, "Your Excellency Nagata, it is said that Emperor Taisho is feeling uncomfortable. Now he is the Regent of Prince Hirohito, right?"

"His Majesty the Emperor is just a minor illness and will be able to return to Tokyo soon." Although Nagata Tetsuyama deliberately avoided the issue of Hirohito's regent, Yang Qiu did secretly care about Hirohito. This statement must not be dared to issue, and only he has the right to do so! But even if Hirohito grew up, it would not erase the losses caused by the earthquake in a few years. So Yang Qiu said: "The two can go back and tell Emperor Taisho that our country has no interest in war. As for North Korea... Some things that have happened in your country in recent days may bring turmoil, so please prepare early."

Yijiyuan Yoshikichi and Nagata Tetsuyama's faces changed slightly. Since Yang Qiu said so, he must have obtained evidence of the massacre of North Koreans in China. He hurriedly said: "Your Excellency Vice President, these are just misunderstandings. Our country has arrested those who gathered to cause trouble."

"Is that? That's really great." Yang Qiu glanced at Li Yuanhong and smiled slightly: "I heard that your country lost thousands of ships during this earthquake, and I think it must be urgently needed to replenish them. So, why not build a batch of 2,000-ton sea ships for you to make up for the losses?"

The number of earthquake disasters has not been counted, but the losses of ships are indeed very serious. Although it is mainly fishing boats and offshore ferries, various cargo ships have also lost hundreds of ships, so it really needs a lot of supplements. The problem is that this supplement should have been provided by the domestic shipyards. This can also promote domestic industrial recovery. If the order is given to China, the recovery time of domestic manufacturing industry will be extended. So Yijiyuan Yanji shook his head quickly: "His Excellency Vice President, our country has the ability to replenish cargo ships by itself."

"Is that?" Yang Qiu looked at him and turned to look at Nagata Tetsuyama, who knew very well. If he did not agree to this condition, Yang Qiu would definitely announce the matter of massacre of the Koreans in his control! Other countries are not afraid, but what about North Korea? If North Korea takes advantage of the situation and attacks southward, the National Defense Forces will inevitably be involved. Now Japan must not be involved in the war. Otherwise, there would be no need to sit here. So he took a deep breath and stood up and said, "Thank you, Vice President. Nagata is very willing to make this happen."

"Thank you, Mr. Nagata, please order the order according to 800,000 or 80 ships per ship."

500,000! 80 ships! Ijiyuan Yoshiki jumped up directly, this is a naked blackmail! The international quote of 2,000-ton offshore cargo ship is only US$300,000, which is about 600,000 yuan. It is not a robbery directly? Nagata Tetsuyama even directly stated that it was not that much money to rebuild after the disaster, so he could only order 12 ships. 12 ships are definitely not possible. Considering the reality of Japan, after some bargaining, the two agreed to order 44 ships within three years for 650,000 yuan in exchange for Yang Qiu's refusal to announce the massacre of the Koreans, and said that this was Japan's limit.

Shipbuilding is an extremely profitable industry this year. Even according to the US quotation, each of the 2,000-ton freighters has a profit of nearly 100,000 yuan. The labor cost in the Republic of China is even lower, so 44 can bring generous benefits to the newly born domestic shipyards. These orders were later handed over to second-tier shipyards such as Hankou, Zhejiang, and Dalian, which not only helped private shipyards grow rapidly, but also trained their manufacturing capabilities. As for the recovery of Japan's maritime industry, Yang Qiu was not worried. The 2,000-ton boat even seemed insufficient to travel to Nanyang.

As for North Korea... they are just exchanged for chips of tens of millions of orders.

This is probably the grayest period in Japan's diplomatic history. The earthquake made the entire Japan unable to raise its head. At a press conference held by the Presidential Office in Nanjing after the talks, Ijiyuan Hiroki finally lowered his head and read out the statement that the Japanese emperor supported China in obtaining the Sumatra oil field. He also announced that in order to better provide disaster relief services, he ordered 44 offshore cargo ships from China in one go. After receiving the large contract and receiving Japan's support on the oil field issue, the Chinese government also reiterated China-Japan friendship and provided Japan with 1 million yuan in cash and 1,000 tons of rice to Japan. As for the medical team and medicines proposed by Japan, they were rejected on the grounds that China's own disasters were constantly and demand was scarce.

1,000 tons of rice are completely a drop in the bucket for Japan after the disaster. As for 1 million yuan in cash... In addition to being able to buy products from the Republic of China, where else can it be used?

After receiving support from Japan, Yang Qiu issued a warning to the Dutch and British governments in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Defense Forces, demanding that the damage to the normal exploration behavior of China's Southwest Mining Company be immediately lifted, and the harassment of oil field workers immediately! He also stated that the country and the military should not intervene in normal trade disputes and should be resolved through commercial means.

At the same time, Yang Qiu also announced that he would set off to visit the UK immediately to resolve the problem of the giant oil field in Sumatra.

After all this, he called Jacob.

*******

ps: Sorry, on the last weekend before the New Year, all kinds of purchases and cleaning... So the condition is very poor.

Note: The naval internal number and call code in Chapter 570 have been replaced. I didn’t expect to use Ruizhan at that time. In addition, the aircraft carrier was also changed to the Beihai (Berga Lake), namely the Beihai and Balkhash.

The internal numbers of the navy are as follows: battleship dragon, aircraft carrier phoenix, battle patrol qi, heavy patrol zi, light patrol pi, destroyer zi, submarine dragon, frigate (reconnaissance ship) chi, torpedo boat, landing ship ash, supply ship zi, etc.

.(To be continued...)
Chapter completed!