Chapter 1: Joint Investigation

  The Japanese government, having lost contact with the landing fleet again, did not handle it as quietly as before, because they were scared. The ships dispatched in two batches, which exceeded more than half of the Japanese fleet, plus two divisions of army, mysteriously disappeared without a trace, which is not a small problem for any government, and the entire Japanese government and military were blown up.

  First, it vehemently questioned the Qing government, demanding that the Qing government thoroughly investigate these two disappearance incidents and take responsibility for them, and compensate Japan for its losses. Then, it also notified several countries including Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, requesting a joint investigation into the unexplained disappearance of Japanese naval fleets in the Taiwan Strait.

  The Qing government was scolded, the Beiyang Fleet was completely destroyed, Liaodong and Taiwan were ceded, now the Japanese Navy is missing, but what does this have to do with the Great Qing Dynasty? Li Hongzhang immediately summoned the envoys of various countries and requested that they intervene to prevent Japan from extorting the Qing again.

  The governments of various countries received requests and pleas from Japan and the Qing government one after another. At first, they also thought that the Japanese were blackmailing and seeking revenge for the occupied territory in Liaodong. The Russians and Germans at the time refused Japan's protests on the grounds that Taiwan had already been ceded and the handover procedures had been completed, and it was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Qing government. The British and French did not directly refuse, but also privately warned the Japanese not to be greedy, occupying territory and getting compensation, lest they never finish.

  However, after repeated requests from the Japanese, Britain and France also felt that something was amiss. They knew about Taiwan's independence, but didn't take it to heart. The area had already become a Japanese territory, and they didn't plan on getting involved. But if Japan's main fleet were to be silently annihilated near Taiwan, Britain and France would still find it hard to believe. The South China Sea was the backyard of the British and French, and the existence of such a powerful naval force here would keep both countries' fleets and governments awake at night.

  Under the pretext of assisting in the investigation, Britain and France sent ships to the waters near Taiwan one after another, intending to find out whether the Japanese were lying or if such a thing had really happened.

  In July 1896, a fleet of three warships consisting of the British ironclad cruiser "Stance" as flagship, the gunboat "Li", and the French ironclad cruiser "Atalante" formally entered the waters near Taiwan to conduct an investigation.

  Before the British and French fleets set sail, the "Chinese Fleet" headquarters in Hong Kong had already telegraphed the new government of Taiwan, claiming that they were only conducting a routine investigation and had no malicious intent. Liu also received this telegram and spent the whole night discussing with his staff how to deal with the intervention of the British and French fleets. After half a night's discussion, no conclusion was reached. Most foreign advisors advocated giving the British and French fleets the right to investigate, as refusing would provoke them and unnecessarily add two more powerful enemies; while Chinese advisors insisted on firmly rejecting it, considering that any unauthorized entry into the combat zone was an enemy ship.

  Liu Wei personally tends to the views of foreign advisors, because from their standpoint, although somewhat conservative, they are more objective; while those Chinese advisors, due to the two great victories in ambushing Japanese fleets, overestimated Taiwan's strength, regarding submarines as an invincible weapon, and all expected to overthrow all previous oppressors at once and immediately turn themselves into masters.

  "The electrified Anglo-French joint fleet, due to the fact that Taiwan's ports and nearby waters have been laid with mines, and the situation is quite chaotic, our side cannot guarantee their navigation safety. Please ask them not to approach any port or waters near the port without notifying our side first, otherwise we cannot guarantee their safety. Remind them to keep in touch as much as possible." Liu ordered, sending this command to the Anglo-French joint fleet.

  "We may have won big against the Japanese fleet twice, but everyone shouldn't be too optimistic. We just took advantage of the enemy's lack of understanding of us, if we set up our formation properly, our losses will be great. Moreover, we have a fatal weakness, which is our army, although the new army has been reorganized quickly and with great effort, but whether those inexperienced new soldiers can withstand the enemy landing is still a question. So for now, we still need to hold back, don't easily make enemies, first focus on dealing with the Japanese." Liu Fei explained to his staff officers.

  "Captain, we've received a telegram from the new government of Taiwan. They're telling us that there are mines in all the ports here and warning us not to approach them carelessly." The first officer was reporting to the captain on the flagship "Stance" of the Anglo-French fleet, holding a telegram in his hand.

  "Torpedoes... What a perfect excuse, don't you think?" Captain Riddell of the "Stance" puffed on his large cigar and said slowly.

  "What should we do then? Not go to the port for inspection?" The young first mate seemed a bit reluctant.

  "Oh, dear Charlie, this isn't our war. This is the Japanese war and we don't have to prove anything with British boys' lives, I just hope to bring you good lads home safely." Reddell took out his pipe and said seriously to the first mate beside him.

  "Order the fleet not to approach Taiwan, just circle around it."

  With Riedel's command, three Anglo-French warships slowly turned around and headed out to sea off Taiwan.

  15 days later, the results of the British and French investigation were transmitted back to Japan through Japanese Minister to Qing China, Hayashi Tadasu. The investigation concluded that the British and French fleets had conducted a thorough and meticulous survey around Taiwan and found no evidence of any naval armed forces that could threaten them, but discovered that mines were laid in the waters near many ports in Taiwan, leading to the conclusion that the Japanese landing fleet was ambushed and annihilated off Taiwan was nonsense.

  This result was also recognized by Germany, the United States, Russia and other countries. Although the Japanese had doubts about the investigation results, they could do nothing about it. They couldn't send another fleet to investigate again, and besides, Japan couldn't even dispatch a fleet in the short term. Not to mention warships, even troop transports were unavailable for deployment. Moreover, Taiwan had already declared war on Japan, and any Japanese ship approaching Taiwanese waters would be attacked.

  Since the Taiwan issue cannot be temporarily resolved by force, it will be done through diplomatic channels. The Japanese government ordered its minister to Qing, Lin Dong, to contact British and French ministers, requesting Britain and France to intervene and help Japan communicate with Taiwan to see if the problem can be solved through negotiation.

  The British and French governments are most enthusiastic about negotiating a settlement to the dispute, without having to send their own troops, money or effort. They can reap benefits just by moving their lips at the negotiating table. Who wouldn't want to do that? It's a freebie! As a result, the British naval command in China formally invited the Taiwanese government to send representatives to Hong Kong to negotiate with the Japanese on the Taiwan issue, with Britain, France and the United States acting as mediators.