Chapter 12: Black America and Black France

  That evening, Liu Ye, who was attending a meeting with the President and several ministers at the Presidential Palace, received a telegram with only four words: You are God.

  However, this Western-style humor did not cheer Liu up. It was not that he couldn't understand the meaning of the telegram, but rather there was a small trouble waiting for Liu to make a final decision. This trouble was neither Japanese nor British, but French.

  In March 1899, intelligence from the mainland reported that the French were planning to occupy Guangzhou Bay. At that time, Guangzhou Bay and Guangzhou had no relation; Guangzhou Bay was near Leizhou Peninsula, which is now Zhanjiang City.

  Why did the French want to occupy Guangzhou Bay? In fact, it was all a legacy of the First Sino-Japanese War. After the war ended, Japan and the Qing government signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which stipulated that the Qing government would cede the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. Russia, Germany, and France saw how much Japan had gained and were unhappy about it. The three countries conspired together, thinking that they couldn't occupy such a good place themselves, but also didn't want Japan to have it all. As a result, six days after the treaty was signed, the three countries forced Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula to the Qing government under the pretext of being friendly neighbors and not wanting things to go too far.

  As a result, Japan returned Liaodong to the Qing government, and then Russia came to ask for benefits. The Qing government still wanted to rely on Russia to help defend against Japan, so they didn't dare offend them. As a result, Dalian and Lushun were leased to Russia.

  The Germans thought, oh dear, this won't do, when mediating I'll also participate, and the benefits should also include me. The Qing government thought, this can't be provoked, so, Jiaozhou Bay you'd better take it first.

  The French looked at me and said, "You two have benefited, what about me?" I couldn't let that happen, so I had to find a place for myself too. After searching the map for half a day, we finally set our sights on Guangzhou Bay. The reason given to the Qing government was that the French fleet needed a port for refueling and storing coal, and Guangzhou Bay was suitable. So, let's sign a 99-year lease contract.

  Russia, Germany and France are all satisfied, but Liu Yuxiang is not happy. This Guangzhou Bay is too close to Hainan Island, where he has an iron mine, if the French occupy Guangzhou Bay, one day he will discover this large iron mine, and if he doesn't rob Liu Yuxiang, it would be embarrassing for him to say that he has a brain.

  Submarines dispatched to Vietnam (then called Annam) to monitor French warships in several major ports reported that French warships were gathering at Da Nang, Vietnam, and it was estimated that they were coming to receive Guangzhou Bay. The French are ready to take action, but Liu's side has not yet decided whether to fight the French or not.

  Go ahead, it's easy to expose one's own strength. Once the strength is exposed, the destruction of the Japanese fleet and the unexpected loss of the US fleet may be associated with the Taiwanese government by insightful people. At that time, they will have offended many people. Although in a short period of time, they won't be able to do anything about Taiwan, even economic sanctions would make Taiwan suffer greatly. After all, Taiwan is an island, and no matter how rich its products are, some things still need to be imported. White sugar and camphor, which account for a large part of Taiwan's economy, also need to be exported.

  Don't fight, and the iron ore will be in danger. Taiwan can overcome the lack of other materials, but once it lacks iron ore, its military industry, railways, shipbuilding, etc. will all come to a standstill.

  After discussing with several government ministers for many days, Liu Fei finally decided to take the risk. If exposed, the Japanese would definitely know that their own fleet was destroyed by someone, and the Americans might not be able to determine if it was their own doing, even if they had suspicions, finding evidence wouldn't be easy. On the surface, there were no conflicts between Taiwan and the US, and cooperation outweighed sabotage, so it should be considered a good relationship. Taiwan had no motive to launch a surprise attack on American warships. For its own national defense and industrial lifeline, this risk was worth taking.

  At the end of March, a secret fleet consisting of 50 "Tuna" submarines quietly set sail from Tongling Port. Except for two commanders, Wu Mingxue and Shi Renjie, all others in the submarine fleet did not know where they were going or whether it was for training or combat.

  The entire fleet sailed along the route to Hainan Island, using a cargo ship disguised as "Helen Shipping Company" carrying ore as cover, diving during the day and surfacing at night, arriving undetected in the waters northeast of Haiphong, where they lay in wait.

  Because it was unknown when the French would act and which route they would take, these submarines could only be replenished by cargo ships that came at night, taking turns to monitor the activities of the French fleet outside Cam Ranh Bay. The submarine force had been lurking for more than half a month, but the French fleet in Cam Ranh Bay was still quiet. Every day, on board the 005 boat, which served as the flagship of the fleet, you could hear Wu Mingxue's curses and shouts to heaven and earth.

  On the morning of April 22, the submarine fleet on duty finally received a telegram from the surveillance submarine, and the French had set off. A total of 3 cruisers, 4 gunboats and 2 auxiliary vessels sailed northwest at a speed of 10 knots, heading towards the Qiongzhou Strait.

  "It's finally out, this Frenchman is too slow, it took a month to set off." Wu Mingxue complained about the efficiency of the French while giving orders, and the submarine fleet set off immediately, heading due north.

  The "Tuna"-class submarines had a surface speed of over 13 knots and an underwater speed of up to 17 knots, which allowed them to reach the calculated ambush position one step ahead and set up their formation, waiting for the French to fall into the trap.

  As Liu Yi requested, it's best to annihilate the French fleet in Vietnamese waters, so Wu Mingxue chose a location 50 nautical miles north of Da Nang to lie in ambush, receiving position information from surveillance submarines while adjusting the ambush circle.

  On April 22nd at noon, the French fleet appeared on the horizon under the scorching sun. Admiral Amédée Courbet, commander of the fleet, was walking his dog on the deck of his flagship "Bass". In Courbet's view, this was just an armed parade, and the Qing dynasty's small ships would be no match for his fleet; he estimated that even cruisers wouldn't be needed, and his four gunboats could resolve the battle. The rest would be a matter of bombardment, landing, and occupation - simple as that.

  "General, torpedo on the starboard side!!!" Suddenly, a combat alert sounded from the lookout tower, and his deputy captain was shouting loudly at him from the command tower.

  "Rude Marseillais......" General Bidal angrily scolded his subordinates for shouting at him, while turning his head to look out at the sea and cursing.

  "Boom... Boom..." General Zhong hadn't even clearly seen what the white lines on the sea surface were, when his flagship suddenly started exploding violently. The poor general and his beloved dog were directly blown into the sea by the huge shockwave.

  With the explosion of the "Basse Goulaine", several French cruisers and gunboats that followed immediately began to explode, like a string of giant firecrackers.

  "Well, this time is not bad, the first wave of attack all hit the target, it seems that everyone has already familiarized themselves with this combat method, practice makes perfect." Under the sea surface, in the 005 submarine which just launched 4 torpedoes, Wu Mingxue's face was stuck to the periscope, observing the results while talking to the deputy captain beside him.

  "But this battle is meaningless, no one can see anyone else, are we considered to be ambushing." The deputy captain did not praise his own merits, but instead refuted his own captain.

  "Sneak attack? Do you need to ask?! This is obviously a sneak attack! What's wrong, were you sleeping when the President was lecturing us? War isn't a play, you can't just die and come back to life. As long as we can eliminate the enemy, any method is acceptable. Looks like you still need to go strengthen your studies, I'll report this when I get back." Wu Mingxue was very dissatisfied with his deputy's heroic thinking.

  "No... Captain... I..." The deputy captain heard that he was going to be suspended from duty and studied, and quickly begged.

  "Shut up, we'll talk about it later. Now give the fleet orders and launch another wave of torpedoes to make them sink faster. After the attack, clean up the sea as usual. The first squadron is in charge of monitoring the sea." Wu Mingxue interrupted the deputy captain's plea.

  The quality of the French warships was still good, except for 4 gunboats with smaller tonnage that had already sunk to the bottom of the sea. The remaining 3 cruisers and 2 auxiliary ships were still stubbornly floating on the water surface, although 2 ships had capsized, but at least they were still afloat.

  Just as the French sailors were busy saving themselves, a large white trail appeared on the surface of the sea and rushed towards these few warships that had not yet sunk.

  French sailors on several French warships, seeing so many torpedoes, stopped their busy work and hugged everything that could be fixed nearby, waiting for the arrival of doomsday. Some sailors had already begun to pray loudly. God did not respond, it silently watched everything happening on the sea surface from high in the sky: explosions, sinkings, crying, praying, begging for mercy, machine gun sweeps...