Chapter Thirty-Eight: Advancing by Land and Water

  Both sides held friendly negotiations at the British China Fleet Headquarters in Hong Kong. At first, the Russian representative bitterly complained that Taiwan's submarines used despicable means to launch a sneak attack on the Russian fleet, causing Russia immense losses, how angry the Tsar was, and how unacceptable it was for the Russian people, demanding what Taiwan should do to make up for these losses, anger, and unacceptability.

  Then the French brought up the 1899 missing French fleet that was also attacked by Taiwan and must be compensated with various sincerity, otherwise... wait.

  The British and German governments, in full agreement with the demands put forward by Russia and France, further proposed that the military strength of Taiwan be inspected and troops from various countries be stationed at several important ports to ensure future peace in East Asia.

  The Americans did not propose any inspection or garrison requirements, they only proposed that Taiwan should negotiate with Japan on the status issue so as to solve the long-standing problem of Taiwan's affiliation.

  The Taiwanese delegation adhered to Liu's three nos principle of not retreating, not acknowledging and not taking responsibility, and denied all accusations from Russia and France, pointing out that these accusations were only imposed on Taiwan by the naval commanders of the two countries in order to shirk their responsibilities, a scapegoat that Taiwan could not bear.

  Regarding the proposals of England and Germany, the Taiwanese delegation also rejected them outright, stating that since various countries do not recognize Taiwan's legitimate status, Taiwan has no obligation to accept military inspections from these countries, nor does it have an obligation to make efforts for maintaining peace in East Asia, unless the governments of these countries formally recognize Taiwan's legitimate status, only then can these issues be further discussed.

  As for the US proposal, the Taiwanese delegation responded more succinctly: Taiwan is currently at war with Japan and has been since declaring war in 1895. The two countries have never declared a ceasefire or lifted their state of war. Therefore, it's impossible for two warring nations to sit down and negotiate without first determining victory or defeat. The US proposal can be accepted by Taiwan, but only after Japan surrenders.

  It ended up like this: you raised accusations, I asked for evidence; you proposed inspections, I demanded status; you mentioned status, I required the other side to surrender. In short, not a single word could be agreed upon. These five countries and Taiwan spent over half a month discussing in Hong Kong, yet they couldn't even come up with a basic framework for negotiations. What's strange is that despite this, the negotiations continued. From this perspective, it seems that neither the five countries nor Taiwan took these negotiations seriously, each having their own hidden agenda. By the second half of the month, the countries simply stopped discussing any requirements or conditions. Since they had already talked about almost everything and were familiar with each other, the representatives from the five countries started chatting casually with the Taiwanese representatives about topics like Taiwan's climate, specialties, and new government. The Taiwanese representatives didn't hold back either, immediately inquiring about Britain's **-level warships, Germany's Krupp armor, America's permanent exclusion law starting from last year, and so on. They dragged it out until the Spring Festival of 1906, when the Taiwanese delegation finally terminated this prolonged negotiation under the pretext of returning to Taiwan for the New Year. The five-country delegation also achieved their goal: with the approval of each country's parliament and emperor, they had planned a joint six-country attack on Taiwan, ultimately occupying it, and dispatched reinforcement troops from their respective colonies or home countries. This kind of idle chatter then lost its significance.

  In early March 1906, the first wave of British reinforcements arrived in Hong Kong, consisting of two Duncan-class battleships and three cruisers, as well as 2,000 Indian troops drawn from India. Subsequently, a French battleship and some troops drawn from Africa also arrived in Vietnam.

  Just as the British warships and troop ships were passing through the Malacca Strait, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had already obtained intelligence that the British reinforcements had arrived through local undercover agents and promptly delivered it to Liu Yongfu. Liu Yongfu immediately ordered the Taiwanese army and navy to enter a state of combat readiness, canceling all leave and routine patrol missions, with all personnel entering their designated defense zones according to pre-arranged plans, ready to counterattack the landing forces of the six nations at any time.

  Subsequently, all ports in Taiwan were temporarily closed, and the torpedo boat units outside the port began to lay mines. Any incoming or outgoing ships would be led by the Taiwanese Navy to ensure safe entry and exit. The bases of the Taiwanese submarine unit implemented wartime blockade, and no one could enter or leave without the approval of the Ministry of National Defense.

  On March 11, the Six Nations Allied Forces announced their formation in Hong Kong. More than 20 troop ships gathered from England, France and Germany began transporting Japanese and Russian armies from mainland Japan and Vladivostok to Hong Kong Island. The first batch of Japanese troops arriving in Hong Kong already had a full division of regular army, with more than 33,000 people. Later, another Japanese division and 5,000 Russian troops would arrive.

  On March 15, the six nations, in the form of an allied army, issued a final ultimatum to the Taiwanese government, ordering it to disband its illegal government and armed forces, surrender to the armies of the six nations, and hand over Taiwan for management by the six nations. The deadline for compliance was set at March 20.

  During the course of the Six Nations' expedition, another flower was added, that is, the US government's proposal to join the Six Nations' army was not passed in both houses of Congress. The majority faction, led by senators and representatives from the West Coast and Southern states, vetoed the military action of intervening in an island country with no benefits. As a Texas congressman said at the time: "It would be more cost-effective to put our precious troops into suppressing the Philippine independence uprising than to intervene in Taiwan." So, the US Navy and Army could not formally participate in the Six Nations' army, but only sent one logistics ship and dozens of naval officers as observers, following behind the six nations for a few days.

  After the final ultimatum was issued, the Taiwanese government not only failed to respond but also declared that the waters within 30 nautical miles around Taiwan were its territorial waters. Any armed vessel entering these waters would be subject to attack by the Taiwanese Navy.

  This is simply a confrontation with the Six Nations, and the Six Nations Allied Forces also saw that they did not wait for the final ultimatum to expire. On March 18th, the entire army was mobilized, with three battleships and three heavy cruisers as the main force, six cruisers and more than 20 destroyers as the vanguard, and they rushed towards Taiwan in a mighty manner.

  It has to be said that the British Navy is worthy of being the world's number one navy. Although they have not had a direct confrontation with submarines, they made a very correct decision based solely on the descriptions of survivors from the Japanese and Russian navies. That is, letting destroyers and light cruisers patrol around the main fleet, which can not only expand the fleet's observation range but also resist torpedo attacks for the main battleships when necessary.

  Moreover, the trump card for this invasion of Taiwan was not this seemingly powerful naval fleet, but another troop transport fleet that set out stealthily in the dead of night. This plan was proposed by the Japanese Army and Navy, as the Japanese Navy knew well the ferocity of Taiwanese submarines and did not believe that this cobbled-together six-nation fleet could break through Taiwan's submarine defenses in one fell swoop. Deep-seated hatred led the Japanese to be willing to take risks, and at the Six Nations Military Conference, they proposed that the six-nation fleet lead the Russian army as the first wave of attacking troops, while Japan would only need to borrow 20 troop transports, without using the troops that had arrived in Hong Kong. Instead, another division would be transported from mainland Japan, arriving in batches in US-occupied Philippines, and then setting out from the Philippines under cover of night, arriving at the southern Taiwanese port of Tamsui at dawn, landing at Tamsui Harbor, and launching an attack into Taiwan's interior.

  The six nations gave full affirmation to the plan for the Japanese, not only providing troop ships but also sending two destroyers as escorts and fire support. In the week before the departure of the six-nation fleet, the Japanese had already used the merchant ships provided by the six nations to transport the regular 6th Division from mainland Japan to US-occupied Philippines in batches, without concentrating in Manila Port, but instead building a temporary base near Claveria on the northern coast of the Philippines. In this regard, the Japanese army was very hardworking and enduring, hiding their tracks after arrival, with 30,000 people bringing only dry rations, not using supply ships to transport supplies, surviving for more than a week on a beach surrounded by primitive forests before boarding the ship and receiving their first replenishment.

  The Japanese did not suffer in vain, the Taiwanese spies and submarines only noticed the main naval bases and warships of various countries, but did not discover these Japanese armies that arrived in batches on foreign merchant ships, which also opened the door for the future struggle for Taiwan.