Melwadek's thoughts were really not as gentle as the Orientals. He grabbed the wine pot in annoyance and poured himself a glass of beer, swallowing it in big mouthfuls.

"I think," He Fuguang paused for a while, and then said, "we can now discuss the allocation of warships such as the Second Fleet. Do you have any suggestions?"

Melwadek turned to his side and waved to one of his staff members. The staff member stepped forward and said to He Fuguang: "After joint consultation between Qingdao Command and the German Empire Embassy in the Republic of China, we believe that the armored frigate of the Okamashima, the armored cruiser of Yagum, the armored cruiser of the Islamicide, the Chiyoda cruiser, the Ligan, the Gao Chihui, and the Wakamura Maru, the three destroyers should be included in the sequence of the German Empire's Far East Fleet. I believe this is the fairest and most beneficial distribution method for both China and Germany."

After the staff finished speaking, Melwadek added: "In addition, there are seven remaining sea sweepers and torpedo boats in the Second Fleet, and these can be handed over to China."

He Fuguang and other translators translated these words and then pondered for a moment. Putting aside the sea sweeper and torpedo boats and other small ships, the second fleet's nine armored ships of more than 3,000 tons, made Germany want five, and left the seriously injured Akijinzhou and Songjiang to China, which was a bit too much. Of course, he knew that the three battleships were not included in this allocation, but in addition to the "Shijian" battleship, the "Zhou Fang" and "Danhou" were already scarred, especially the "Danhou", which were almost like a pile of scrap copper and iron.

Thinking of this, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Melwadek: "I think your advice is reasonable, but I still have a reluctance to ask. If the Akitsushima can be exchanged for the "Okōjima", I think this distribution is perfect enough. We, China and Germany, are bargaining like market vendors in the vegetable market."

Melwadek immediately said: "I think General He, you should be very clear that the "Kongjima" and the "Akizumizhou" are not warships of the same level, and this is not an equivalent exchange. The "Kongjima" is a 4,600-ton armored frigate, and the "Akizumizhou" is just a 3,000-ton armored cruiser, which is very different from our plan to reorganize the Far East Fleet. Furthermore, out of respect for China, we have given up all three battleships. Isn't this enough to show sincerity?"

He murmured in his heart: You must know that the tonnage of these three battleships is almost the same as the tonnage of the entire Chinese navy. The Chinese are really not satisfied!

He Fuguang said slowly: "Commander, what you said makes sense, but at the same time I hope you can be more cautious. Britain, France and Russia did not directly interfere in the Qingdao War before, because they knew that the German Far East Fleet had only six warships, which was not enough to pose a threat. However, after the Qingdao War, the warships of the Second Fleet were incorporated into the Far East Fleet, which allowed the Far East Fleet to double the strength of the Far East Fleet to more than triple. It is hard to say what the British, France and Russia will think of it at that time."

Melwadek frowned and asked, "Are you threatening me? There is an agreement between China and Germany, and you have the responsibility to guarantee Germany's interests in the Far East."

He Fuguang sighed and said seriously: "Your Excellency, it is really good to have an agreement between China and Germany, but there are two issues you need to consider. First, China guarantees Germany's interests in the Far East, and must be within China's capabilities; Second, I can tell you very responsibly that China will never offend the four countries of Britain, France, Russia and the *** at the same time, as this will only cause heavy damage to our Chinese interests."

Melwadeck thought about it carefully and thought that He Fuguang's words made sense. The German Empire could not place all hope on a weak country.

Seeing Melwadek hesitating, He Fuguang continued: "I have a way."

Melwadek asked, "Is that so? Please tell me, General He."

He Fuguang said slowly: "I hope that the Commander will temporarily formally incorporate three armored cruisers, Yasuo, the armored cruisers, the "Iwasaki" and the "Chyoda" cruisers, and the two Far East Fleet cruisers injured in the Qingdao naval battle to training ships. In this way, the total tonnage of the Far East Fleet will only be increased by a little. As for the remaining warships, they will be handed over to China..."

Melwadek interrupted, "How is this possible! In the end, we have only three warships in Germany's trophy?"

He Fuguang said slowly: "Please listen to me finish my words. This is just a nominal division of ownership. The other warships your country wants belong to our China in name, but all crew members and commanders are arranged by the Commander, which means that these warships are still under the control of the Germans."

Melwadek suddenly realized, and he said in a deep thought: "This seems to be a good solution... So, General He believes that the 'Akitsushima' should be used for the 'Jijima', and then you will help us with such cover?"

He Fuguang smiled and said, "Since China and Germany are allied, why bother with this naval force of more than 1,000 tonnage? Furthermore, the navy has always been our China's weak service. It is necessary to make up for these shortcomings in future cooperation with Germany. If China has always lacked the power to control the sea, how can we cooperate with Germany to complete the Far East strategy?"

Melwadek took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and finally said, "Since that's the case, then okay. Let's do what General He said."

He Fuguang said happily: "Thank you very much for your understanding. In return, we will give priority to hiring German naval officers, technicians and ordering German naval industrial equipment."

Melwadek just grinned and didn't make any more comments.

Early the next morning, all important newspapers in China published the Qingdao riots that happened last night. With the cooperation of these newspapers, they almost quickly became a hot topic of news that caused a sensation in Asia. *** The prisoners of war conspired to assassinate the Chief of Staff of the Shandong War Zone and the commander-in-chief of Qingdao Fortress who inspected the Second Fleet. What a shocking case!

"Little *** is simply a ghost. According to me, all the heads should be beheaded!"

"Hmph, they still want to be revived? It's a complete dream!"

"It's so hateful, it's really horrifying. We China abides by international conventions and treats prisoners well, but they dare to make conspiracies in private! We don't know shame, this is shameless!"

There was almost no objection from all walks of life, and they all unanimously criticized the ***. Professors and scholars from universities from all over the country published protest articles in publications and newspapers, and inciting the hatred of Japan to the highest point in just one day.

Not only that, the Shanghai Intelligence Station also spent a lot of money to buy reporters from popular Western news newspapers, exaggerating this matter in Western newspapers, and shifting the blame to the people.

*** Completely fell into the forefront!

At two o'clock in the afternoon, at the instruction of Wu Shaoting, the Ministry of Defense of China Gate held a press conference to announce to all the reporters present the whole story of the outbreak in Qingdao last night and the investigation and evidence collection. Of course, the so-called investigation and evidence collection was entirely carried out by China and Germany. All the evidence listed was prepared in advance, and everything was inclined to adversely affect the ***.

At the end of the press conference, Li Hongxiang, spokesman of the General Office of the Ministry of National Defense, officially announced that in view of the conspiracy of the captives, China will take back the promise of retention of the Second Fleet to the *** side, and decide to forcibly confiscate all ships of the Second Fleet, and transfer all the sailors left by the Second Fleet to the shore for detention.

---
Chapter completed!