Chapter Sixteen: To Fight Or Not To Fight

  Just as Liu was sitting in the Presidential Palace in Taipei, paying attention to the English and Boer War while adjusting Taiwan's economy, agriculture, transportation, and national defense, a piece of intelligence from mainland China stirred President Liu's nerves. This intelligence came from Tianjin and was an internal affairs department report from the "Golden Elephant Pharmacy" in Tianjin, which mentioned that several gangs had recently come to the pharmacy multiple times to warn them not to sell Western medicine or employ Western doctors, and also asked the pharmacy to join an organization called the "Boxer Rebellion", which seemed to be dedicated to opposing foreigners.

  "Boxers? I'm going, this organization can't be messed with, this damn thing is either a cult or an extremist organization, they're all about non-violent non-cooperation." Liu Mou read the telegram, muttering to himself.

  Although not very clear about modern history, those who have slightly studied and read a few books can know that in modern Chinese history, the most disgusting moment was when some people in the Qing government secretly used the Boxers to fight against foreigners, but they didn't play well and went too far, killing the German ambassador at that time, and then the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing.

  "Was it 1900? The year sounds familiar, I think so?" Liu Mo also didn't dare to trust her own memory.

  "Whatever, let's just calculate it as 1900 for now... It's already 1900 now... Come on. After counting with his fingers for half a day, Liu Mou finally came to his senses. If the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing in 1900, then that would be this year."

  "Sir, what are your orders." The office outside was Liu Yi's secretary and guard, a position that had always been held by the original vanguard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Letting others do it made Liu Yi uneasy, and the title "sir" was one he had stipulated, but he wasn't quite used to being called that before and after his presidency.

  "In the afternoon, an emergency meeting will be held, and the ministers of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs must all attend. The content of the meeting will be announced when the time comes. Also, inform Xu Zengliang to send a few more people to Tianjin to closely monitor the Boxer situation." Liu Fei said.

  That afternoon, in the Presidential Office Building conference room in Taipei, Liu met with several Taiwanese government ministers and military leaders to discuss further weakening of foreign powers nearby.

  Liu Fei proposed that everyone come up with a plan to see if they can make a limited strike against the naval forces of the United States, Britain, France or Japan in the near future, on the premise of not exposing Taiwan itself.

  The ministers and staff discussed for half a day, unanimously believing that the French had nothing much to attack, and the two newly dispatched cruisers were also old cruisers from over a decade ago, one of which was still made of wood. It wasn't worth sending submarines to attack them specifically. Moreover, the French ships rarely left the coastal waters, and at night they retreated into the harbor, without good opportunities for attack, and reckless attacks would expose them to danger;

  And the US warships are basically following the army to provide artillery support and serve as troop ships. The underwater terrain of the Philippines is too complex, although Taiwanese submarines and cargo ships have been conducting hydrographic surveys there all along, but it's still far from meeting the needs of combat operations. Except for a few major ports, the remaining small ports and coastal areas have not been explored yet, so it's reckless to send troops there, and there may be a risk of running aground.

  The UK is actually the easiest to attack recently, although the British fleet is also very defensive, but it's not difficult to find an opportunity to sneak into the port and launch a surprise attack. However, being easy to attack doesn't mean we can attack, the UK is too close to Taiwan, if we attack the UK, it would be like poking a hornet's nest, and would inevitably attract attention from other countries. Moreover, the British are not like the French, after getting beaten, more than half of them would just watch and laugh, the British at this time are equivalent to modern-day America, when the big brother gets beaten, everyone gets anxious, including distant relatives and younger brothers, even Germany, which secretly opposes the UK, would also come out and help the big brother. Therefore, attacking the UK is not a good idea.

  Next were the Japanese, after nearly three years of recuperation, the Japanese again purchased 3 cruisers from Britain, and they were new-style cruisers, their combat effectiveness was slowly recovering. However, due to the downturn in the Japanese Navy for a while, it allowed the Russians to take advantage of the situation. Now the attention of the Japanese Navy is focused on Dalian and Lushun, using all their strength to defend against the Russian Far East Fleet anchored at Lushun Port, posing no threat to Taiwan. Is it worth running so far to launch a surprise attack on several cruisers?

  Finally, the Russians and Germans, the Russians occupied the two non-freezing ports of Dalian and Lushun, and were finally able to bring their Far Eastern fleet to the Far East. They are now in a state of excitement, busy teasing the Japanese in the waters of Korea and Japan; The Germans are the most honest, guarding their own Shandong and playing house with themselves; If you go to attack the fleets of these two countries, the route is a big problem, the long voyage, dare not guarantee that all submarines will attack smoothly and then return safely.

  After analyzing and calculating, it's not very safe to fight anyone. Liu was depressed, originally he thought that weakening the power of various countries a little would make it less easy for them to attack Tianjin and Beijing, maybe they wouldn't even be able to reach Beijing, after occupying Tianjin, the imperial court would be afraid, compensate some silver and that's it. This way, you don't have to burn down the Summer Palace either, and you can also make some contributions to China.

  But it seems that this contribution cannot be made, with various difficulties and unsuitability causing Liu Ye to be in a dilemma. In the end, it was Xu Zengliang from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who was most considerate of Liu Ye, although he did not know why Liu Ye wanted to attack those foreign warships, but he could feel that Mr. had a bitter intention.

  The master's bitter intention is his own bitter intention, which is the deep inner thinking of these stormtroopers. Since the master wants to go and fight against foreigners, he must support himself, and he must also support him in a reasonable way. Still young people use their brains well, Xu Zengliang looked at the map for a while, then whispered:

  "Since the master said that these foreign fleets may go to attack Tianjin, then we don't need to take action on this side of the South China Sea. Can't we send a few submarines to Tianjin? Take advantage of their battle to launch a sneak attack. This way, it's not easy to expose ourselves and we can muddy the waters."

  "Hmm... That's not a bad idea, Ming Xue. Can your submarine make it to Tianjin? Can you guarantee a safe return without being detected?" Liu Mo patted his own head, feeling that his thinking had become somewhat rigid, only thinking of sneaking into the enemy's base for a surprise attack, and hadn't thought of going to Tianjin as the best place for a sneak attack.

  "This... if it's a fleet of several ships, there shouldn't be a big problem. We can arrange for cargo ships to provide cover and supplies. When we arrive at Tianjin, we can attack at night and then return to the open sea and rendezvous with the cargo ships before returning to Taiwan. I can lead the team personally, and the chances of success without exposure are very high." The commander of the naval submarine squadron, Wu Mingxue, said thoughtfully while looking at the nautical chart.

  "Alright, you lead the team then. But let me be upfront with you, if our tracks are exposed, when you get back, you won't be the captain anymore. I'll have you do ground duty at the base." Liu Fei decided to use pressure to further confirm the feasibility of this mission.

  "Mr. President, rest assured that if I'm exposed and captured, I'll retire automatically when I return." Wu Mingxue said fiercely while staring at the nautical chart.

  Having finalized the plan for a surprise attack, Liu Kuangyuan ordered Xu Zenglin to increase intelligence gathering in Tianjin and the concessions of various countries, as well as on the activities of the Boxers.