Chapter 979

As the sun went down, a large fleet sailed slowly towards the new port of Frankfurt, quickly causing a stir among the dockworkers.

As one of the most important military ports of the Holy Roman Empire in the Southeast Asian region, it is normal to have fleets in and out. It's just that this time is different. The flags hoisted by the fleet entering the port are wrong.

A young man pointed forward with trembling hands and exclaimed, "What's going on? Which bastard is so careless and got the flag wrong!"

The Port of New Frankfurt is one of the bases of the Austrian South Sea Fleet and is a military center. Even if there are occasional foreign warships passing by and needing supplies, they will send small boats to them, and they have never docked.

This is also the tacit understanding between colonial empires. For the safety of the port, unless the invitation is accepted, or the warship is damaged in the course of the industry and must be repaired, under normal circumstances, warships of other countries are not allowed to enter.

Especially after Japan's successful sneak attack on the Philippines, the major colonial empires were even more vigilant. Not to mention that such a huge fleet has docked, even if it wants to get supplies, it must stay a few miles away.

The middle-aged foreman next to him sneered: "Don't talk nonsense, who will hang the military flag wrong. Just look at the shape of the warship, it is obviously not ours.

It was the flag of the Spaniards. They were at war with the Japanese. I heard that they suffered a big loss a few days ago. It seems that this fleet should be reinforcements sent by them.

Just don't know what happened, they came to us. "

After a pause, the middle-aged man seemed to think of something, and after reacting, he immediately reprimanded: "Hurry up and work, don't think about being lazy for me, is it your turn to worry about the big man's affairs!

Still want to get paid? Tell you, if you can't finish today's work, no one wants to go home. "

Suddenly, a small man wrapped his arms around his stomach and showed a painful expression, which quickly attracted the attention of the middle-aged foreman.

"Little monkey, what are you doing, kid?"

It can be seen that the middle-aged foreman is still very worried. It's just that the little monkey's body is what he's worried about, or it's still alive today, so no one will know.

"Boss, my stomach hurts. Can you give me some money first and let me go to the hospital."

While speaking, the young man of the little monkey had already squatted down, as if the pain was unbearable.

The middle-aged foreman frowned, and he was sick like a mountain, especially those who were engaged in heavy physical work on the dock, but when they fell ill, few could get up.

It's not that it can't be cured, it's that there is no money to treat it. Although the income of dock workers is relatively good, after deducting the expenses of the family, there is still little left.

If you don't seek medical treatment, one will die. If you are admitted to the hospital, I don't know if the person can be saved. Anyway, the family will definitely be gone.

"Okay! But don't go to the hospital, kid. That's not the place for us people. Just go to Lao Liutou and prescribe a medicine."

The poor have the way of life for the poor. In addition to expensive hospitals, there are also barefoot doctors living abroad.

It doesn't matter how medical skills are, but the price is cheap.

Generally speaking, the medicinal materials in these barefooted men are all collected by themselves, and only the medicines that are not available on the island will be purchased, and the cost is much lower than that of the hospital.

But you get what you pay for, and there are really few barefoot doctors in the Nanyang region who are good at medicine. If he really had the ability, he would have been recruited by the hospital long ago.

They are all private hospitals, and everything looks at money. As long as they can make money, capitalists will not care about traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Driven by interests, the earliest hospital of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine appeared so quietly and silently.

The little monkey youth kept nodding, indicating that he already knew. After taking the money from the middle-aged foreman, he left tremblingly.

Everyone sweeps the snow in front of their own doors. In this precarious era, unless it is relatives and friends, otherwise everyone will not mind their own business.

The little monkey joined later, and he is neither kinship nor ancestry with everyone, and he is not even a hometown. Except for a few sighs in the mouth, the rest of the people continued to work.

After getting rid of everyone's attention, the dying little monkey instantly recovered his vitality and ran to the telegraph company at the fastest speed.

...

In the early hours of the morning, the palace was still brightly lit. Emperor Meiji, who should have rested, was also awakened by a sudden telegram, and hurriedly called a royal meeting.

"The enemy's speed was much faster than we expected, and it has reached Sulawesi and is now stopping at New Frankfurt, just one step away from the Philippines.

Seeing that the enemy is about to launch an attack, and the warships promised by the British have not been obtained, we must come up with a plan for how to deal with it next. "

Emperor Meiji said without a doubt.

The situation was bad, completely beyond his expectations. According to international practice, the Holy Roman Empire, as a neutral country, cannot provide assistance to Spain during the war.

Generally speaking, for the sake of national reputation, even providing support to belligerents is done secretly, and blatant support like the Holy Roman Empire is rare in the European world.

However, the routine suddenly failed. The Holy Roman Empire doesn't seem to care about its international reputation this time, not only allowing Spanish warships to pass through the Suez Canal, but also providing ports to the Spanish Navy.

If nothing else, the maintenance of the Spanish warships is not surprising.

It seems that these supports are inconspicuous, but in fact these are all factors that directly affect the combat effectiveness of the Navy.

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The Pacific Fleet was killed by the Japanese simply and neatly because of the lack of these logistical support, and the ten points of combat effectiveness were not even displayed. Otherwise, who wins and who loses is still an unknown.

Admiral Ito Yuheng asked: "What does the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do? Didn't the Austrians say they were neutral, why did they suddenly support Spain?

Why did we not receive any news before, you are dereliction of duty. Do you know how much damage this accident will bring to the Empire? "

"Ito-kun, calm down first. No one wants to see such a thing happen. And our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not idle.

It is a well-known fact that the Vienna government declared its neutrality early. What happened now is mainly because we ignored a secret contract from forty years ago.

Before the Austrians went to sea, they signed a port-sharing agreement with several colonial empires, including Spain.

Thanks to this treaty, the Austrians were able to overcome the difficulties of supply in the early days of colonization and created the second colonial empire in the world.

According to the provisions of the treaty, in the case of jeopardizing their own interests, the contracting parties are obliged to provide logistics support and port calls to the other party within the scope of their capabilities. "

Xiyuan Temple Gongwang explained helplessly.

This is really not their responsibility. Forty years ago it was the shogunate era, and they were still little kids. Who would care about a contract with them that didn't have half a cent!

In particular, this treaty still exists in the form of a secret contract. If he hadn't negotiated with the minister of the Holy Roman Empire, he wouldn't even know there was a treaty.

Ito Yuheng asked angrily: "What if there is a secret contract? Didn't the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ask the Austrians for an explanation for this kind of behavior that violates international practice?"

Xiyuanji Gongwang replied bitterly: "The explanation is naturally coming. After receiving the entry of the Spanish navy into the new port of Frankfurt, I met with the envoy of the Holy Roman Empire as soon as possible.

The other party also gave a reasonable explanation, but this explanation, I think you will not like it. "

After making eye contact, seeing that everyone was determined to know, Xiyuanji Gongwang said slowly: "Minister Antonio expressed regret for this incident, and made a commitment on behalf of the Vienna government, willing to bear all the consequences.

He also said that if we insist on pursuing it, we can declare war on them on this ground, and the Holy Roman Empire will take the initiative to assume the moral responsibility for this war. "

It's okay not to explain, everyone couldn't help it. Even Emperor Meiji, who has always attached great importance to the majesty of the monarch, was furious at this moment.

An understatement of willingness to take responsibility seems to be responsible for the matter, but in fact it is helpless.

"Declaration of war"?

If Japan has such strength, Emperor Meiji wouldn't mind fighting the Holy Roman Empire, and let them know that the Great Japanese Empire is not easy to mess with!

Unfortunately, the reality is cruel. The Holy Roman Empire, which was founded less than two months ago, is now half of the world's hegemony. A country like Japan can be killed with a slap.

Weak countries have no diplomacy, which is vividly reflected here. Even if people admit to violating international practice, the Japanese government does not have the courage to pursue accountability.

Even the Vienna government once again proved its credibility to the outside world because of this incident. For the sake of a secret contract 40 years ago, one can offend and die in violation of international practice...

Well, the weight of the Japanese is still a little lighter these days, and it is not very convincing to spread it out. If replaced by the British, it is estimated that the effect will be better.

After all, he was used to seeing strong winds and waves. Seeing that the meeting situation was out of control, Emperor Meiji immediately reprimanded him: "Shut up for me! If you go home and scold yourself slowly, don't be rambunctious here.

I also know that what the Holy Roman Empire has done this time is very inauthentic, but what can it do? They are the most powerful country in the world with domineering capital.

If you have the ability, you can put this account down first, and wait for the opportunity to get it back from them in the future to wash away the shame this time. "

In the end, Emperor Meiji also lost his confidence. There is no way, the strength gap between the two sides is too great.

Only the power of the Holy Roman Empire in the Southeast Asian region has the ability to destroy the Japanese Empire. In terms of the comprehensive national strength of the two countries, this gap is at least a multiple of more than double digits.