The accusations made by the Japanese were that Russia's reply was that the fleet's target was Lushun Port, and the parking of Incheon Port was just a rest and not a long-term stay in Incheon Port. Therefore, Russia did not violate the [Japan-Russia Agreement] and also asked Japan not to be nervous, so as not to cause tension on the Korean Peninsula.

The Japanese were originally good at conspiracy, and they had been put on by the Russians. It would be strange if they believed the Russians' explanation. Now the Japanese Sixteenth Fleet has completed halfway, and currently has three battleships and three armored cruisers. The strength of the navy is not inferior to that of this Russian fleet, but the fleet gathers, sets off, and then arrives in Incheon. It will take at least 3 or 4 days, and during this period, many things are enough to happen.

In Japan, there were already a group of hardliners against Russia, led by the Meiji Restoration veterans, former Army Minister and Prime Minister Aritomo Yama Prefecture. Therefore, they strongly advocated that Japan should immediately mobilize fleets and assemble the army. If Russia takes a Japanese operation on the Korean Peninsula, it will immediately launch military operations and ensure Japan's interests in the Korean Peninsula at all costs.

Although Japan's current Prime Minister Hiromoto Ito is a stable faction and advocates trying his best to avoid direct conflict with Russia, after all, in this era, Russia is still a giant, with a territory of more than 20 million square kilometers and a population of 150 million, and the people are brave and warlike. It is not like the incompetent Qing Dynasty. It has almost no chance of winning against such a super-sized power. But by this time, Japan has almost been forced into a corner by Russia. The stable faction does not mean a surrender faction, so Hiromoto Ito can no longer give in.

However, Hirofumi Ito is a politician with an international perspective after all. He happened to recruit a meeting to negotiate and form a multi-national coalition in Shanghai to expand the scale of China's combat. Hirofumi Ito would stop Russia's hope and also put it on this meeting. After all, it would be better not to go to war with Russia. Therefore, Hirofumi Ito ordered the navy to gather and prepare for war. At the same time, it immediately ordered the Japanese Consul in Shanghai, Odagiri Okawa, to immediately engage in diplomatic action in Shanghai, and strive to unite other countries to put pressure on Russia together.

After receiving the domestic order, Oda Chee also knew that the situation was critical, so he visited the consulates of Britain, Germany, the United States and France overnight to state the views of the Japanese government, accusing Russia of its unilateral actions, and at the same time firmly stated that if the Russian fleet did not leave Incheon, Japan would refuse to negotiate any other matters, and would also refuse to send more troops to the Chinese battlefield, and would also unilaterally make peace with the Qing and overseas Chinese, withdraw all Japanese troops in China now, etc.

France and the United States did not want to expand the scale of China's war. This incident was the two countries' concerns. If a conflict arises between Russia and Japan, or even develops into conflict, the Eight-Nation Alliance will be completely broken. It is France, and it does not want Russia to invest too much energy in the Far East. So the consuls of both countries expressed their willingness to cooperate with Japan at the next day's meeting to put pressure on Russia, demanding that the Russian fleet withdraw from Incheon Port.

Germany originally wanted to push Russia to the Far East, which not only reduces its strategic pressure, but also differentiates the Russian-French alliance. Therefore, it has to react coldly to Oda Chee's, saying that this is a matter between Japan and Russia, and Germany is not convenient for intervening.

Of course, Japan did not have much hope for Germany. Although Germany is an important power in Europe, its strength in the Far East is limited. If we want to curb Russia, it mainly relies on Britain. On the one hand, it is because since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Britain and Japan have gradually approached. Japan's planned "Six Six Fleet" had 10 warships purchased from Britain. On the other hand, the most intense conflict between Britain and Russia.

After receiving Oda Chee, British Consul in Shanghai Huo Bilan immediately informed the domestic government of the attitude of the Japanese government. After reading the telegram, the British Prime Minister Marquis Salisbury couldn't help but sigh: "The Eight-Nation Alliance has been completely finished."

Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Britain has intentionally supported Japan as its agent in the Far East to curb Russia's expansion in the Far East, and has no choice but to help Japan build a powerful navy. It is even more modeled after its strongest battleships, helping Japan build warships. After the outbreak of the Boer War, Britain's national strength declined, and Japan's role in the Far East was naturally more prominent. Therefore, if Japan does not support Japan this time, it will not only increase its strength in the Far East after Russia annexed North Korea, but also make Japan feel that Britain is unreliable. Over the years, Britain's support for Japan has been completely in vain.

On the other hand, Lieutenant General John Fisher, the commander-in-chief of the Far East Fleet selected by the UK, returned to London and based on existing information, he provided a report to the British Admiralty, proposing that to suppress overseas Chinese navies, 4-5 first-class battleships, 2-3 second-class battleships, 2-3 large armored cruisers, 2-3 large protective cruisers, 4-5 small and medium-sized protective cruisers, 10-15 torpedo boats and destroyers, and other related supporting ships.

The report scared the British Admiralty because it means that about 15 large and medium-sized surface ships, about 20 small and medium-sized surface ships, plus auxiliary ships, the entire fleet will reach 50-60 ships.

Such a huge fleet is simply unable to bear the current financial situation of Britain. According to the plan of the Navy, the fleet cannot exceed 30 ships at most. However, Lieutenant General Fisher said that if the number of fleets is limited to 30 ships, he cannot guarantee victory.

Although the existing data is difficult to correctly evaluate the naval strength of overseas Chinese, they easily won the two victories of the Battle of Dagukou and the Battle of Bohai. In the Battle of Bohai, they easily defeated the German fleet with 3 battleships, 1 large armored cruiser, 4 large ironclad ships, and 5 large and medium-sized protective cruisers in the Battle of Bohai. So Lieutenant General Fisher also adopted the simplest comparative evaluation method. If the British fleet also wanted to easily defeat the German fleet, they needed to propose the number of ships themselves.

But obviously, Britain is unable to deploy a fleet of such a size. Of course, some people have also proposed that Britain does not need to deploy all ships, because there are other countries. Not to mention other countries, Russia and Japan have strong naval strength in the Far East. Russia's fleet sent from Vladivostok has one battleship, two large armored cruisers, two large protective cruisers, while the Japanese Navy has three battleships and three large armored cruisers. If the navies of Japan and Russia can be integrated, the pressure on Britain will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, once Japan, Russia and Britain form a joint navy, the United States will definitely send warships to join in. This multinational joint fleet is even more powerful than Fisher proposed.

However, the British side did not expect that Russia would attack the Korean Peninsula at this time. It should be said that the polar bears are indeed good at seizing opportunities, but this will disrupt Britain's overall plan.

However, no matter how much lamented, the matter still had to be resolved. Therefore, the Marquis of Salisbury immediately recruited British cabinet members to discuss countermeasures. To put it simply, it was to support Japan. After discussions by cabinet members, the final decision was that supporting Japan was the only choice for Britain.

Of course, the British cabinet members are very clear that once Britain makes a resolution to support Japan and suppress Russia, the plan to form a multi-national coalition and expand China's combat scale will be completely completed, because Russia is by no means a country that can be suppressed easily. This will be a long-term process, and it may be possible in one or two years, or three or five years. During this period, not only the Eight-Nation Alliance will die in name only, but it is also impossible to complete the task. But Britain can only choose a slightly lighter risk among the two evils.

Since it is impossible to form a multi-national coalition, and the situation in China cannot be delayed like this, the British government has to start formal discussions, negotiate with time travelers, and peacefully resolve China's war.

The result was a meeting originally scheduled to discuss the formation of a multi-national coalition and expand the scale of China's combat, which became a symposium headed by Japan, with Britain supporting France, the United States and Germany making so-called "State" and accusing Russia of undermining the balance of the Korean Peninsula and demanding that the Russian fleet leave the Korean Peninsula immediately.

Of course, Russia will not be so stubborn. Dmitryev, the Russian Consul General in Shanghai, insisted that the Russian fleet was only temporarily docked and rested in Incheon Port, which did not violate the [Japan-Russia Agreement], nor did it undermine the balance of the Korean Peninsula. Japan's accusations were completely unreasonable.

Odaki asked when the Russian fleet would leave Incheon Port, and Dmitryev said that this was Russia's military secret and he had no choice but to tell him, so he only made Odaki so angry that he smoked.

British Consul Huo Bilan asked Russia to make a promise in the name of the government to ensure that the Russian fleet would not make any changes to the balance of the Korean Peninsula during its berth in Incheon Port, but Dmitryev responded arrogantly that the Russian government would never make such a promise.

This finally angered the Japanese. Odaki told Dmitryev on the spot that if the Russian fleet unilaterally changed the balance of the Korean Peninsula, it would mean war.

Huo Bilan immediately attached to the Japanese consul. The British side will take all measures to maintain the Korean Peninsula, which is a balanced situation in the Far East.

US Consul Guna also said that the United States will firmly oppose acts that undermine the balance of the Korean Peninsula.

French Consul Bai Zaotai hopes that the Russian government will consider it seriously and not make any wrong actions.
Chapter completed!